BARBARA BENISH

Barbara Benish is a California-born artist and writer inspired by the ocean environment, the Mexican deserts, and surrounding Indigenous cultures. At University of Hawai’i in the early 1980s, Benish’s work in art and ethnology grounded her understanding of the intrinsic connection of environmental protection with social justice, and the relationship of Colonialism, sovereignty and stewardship. The Czechoslovak Revolution in 1989, in which Benish was involved, gave her first-hand experience in social change ignited by the arts.