Please join the Dante Society of Westerly for a discussion with Italian artist Franco Azzinari on his decades long project aimed at protecting the children of Amazonia’s Indigenous tribes in a critical moment in which the climate change and the uncontrolled “invisible” deforestation of the rainforest are destroying the most important ecosystem of our planet. He will describe living with the indigenous people of tribes in Brazil, teaching the children art techniques and share drawings, videos, pictures and a reproduction in plexiglass of its original oil paintings. 

About the presenter:

Franco Azzinari was born in San Demetrio Corone, in the province of Cosenza. As a young man he began his art studies and travelled throughout Europe. For several years he lived in Paris, where the great Impressionist painters, particularly Gauguin, Van Gogh and Monet, fascinated him.  In 1974Azzinari had his first solo exhibition, which would officially begin his artistic career. In the same year, Azzinari opened in Milan a studio-gallery. In 1977 he began a series of trips to the Far East in search of the footsteps of ancient Asian civilizations. The following years were characterized by significant experiences in the United States, in the Seychelles Islands, and in Brazil. Over the years he has earned many authoritative and prestigious awards. His works are now part of important Italian and foreign collections.