Lesson 5 the Art of the Kuna Mola Designs

Kuna artist
Child'south Mola Shirt , ca. 1970
Cotton and synthetic textile
xx x 23 inches
Gift of an bearding donor
2016.three.one

The Kuna are Indigenous people who alive on the San Blas Islands—besides known as the Comarca of Kuna Yala—in Panama. Mola, the Kuna word pregnant "to cover" are hand-sewn, embroidered blouse fronts and backs made and worn by Kuna women. Mola blouse-forepart designs evolved from body painting, which, in the late nineteenth century, was discouraged by colonial law. Adapting their ancient expression of cultural identity, Kuna women began the practice of decorating their clothing with traditional designs.

The Kuna view traditional Mola that they make for themselves as their cultural wealth and intellectual property. Mola are an integral part of women'southward identity. The women express their cultural autonomy in exquisite examples of geometric and abstract interpretations of ancient cosmology, representations of the latest political struggle in Panama, and trends in popular culture and fashion. Due to the popularity of the Mola among tourists, the beautiful art form has go an important source of income for Kuna women.

Artists use a technique chosen reverse appliqué to create Mola. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-colored cloth are sewn together. The creative person cuts away parts of each layer to grade the design, and then turns under and sews down the edges of the layers. Often, the stitches are nearly invisible because the thread is the aforementioned color every bit the layer beingness sewn. A greater number of layers is generally a sign of higher quality too equally the quality of stitching. The quality of a Mola is evident in the pocket-sized size of hand stitching, evenness of cutting and hemming, complex layering of fabric, and careful spacing. Although some Mola rely on embroidery to enhance the pattern, those which are made using only the pure opposite-appliqué technique are considered better.

In this detail design the maker used almost entirely reverse appliqué technique with little embroidery and the stitching is very fine. We tin run into traditional bird and animal symbols every bit well as new innovations in the extended tongue of the fundamental figure and the addition of flags and stars. Many of the designs on Mola are open to interpretation and include symbols taken from modern life and meant to appeal to the non-Kuna buyer.

Molas are so important to the identity of the Kuna that they can be credited for the independent status of the Kuna Reserve (Comarca San Blas). During the first decades of the twentieth century, the Panamanian government attempted to "westernize" the Kuna past forbidding their linguistic communication, customs, and traditional wearing apparel. In 1925, the Kuna people revolted against these laws and won the right to govern their territory autonomously.

Today, Kuna women do an additional form of Ethnic sovereignty through the institution of cooperatives for the sale of their Mola. In this mode, the Kuna women themselves and non an outside buyer, set the price for Mola and ensure fairness and noncompetition amidst the diverse communities of Kuna Mola makers.

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Give-and-take and Activities

1. Report the Mola'southward pattern and colors. Which colors and shapes were layered first and last? How many man and animate being figures tin can you notice hiding in the lines?
2. How does clothing limited cultural and personal identity? How does information technology limited creativity and community values? What design would you create to wear on your own item of clothing?
3. How do you recall the rise in tourism and increased desire for Mola equally a cultural souvenir has impacted the Kuna people and their traditional art grade?
4. Make your own newspaper Mola. (Adapted from Blick Lesson Plans: Newspaper Molas)
   Supplies: construction paper, scissors, glue sticks, and pencils
   Procedure:
   1. Have students cull four colors of newspaper. From the kickoff sheet, students cut out a blueprint to employ as the acme slice. Students may cull a traditional Kuna design or a shape of their pick based on the natural earth around them.
   2. Next, ask students to lay the first shape over the second color of paper and very lightly trace information technology a fiddling larger, and then that a sparse border will be formed by the 2d color. Cutting information technology out and glue the top to the 2d layer. Paper clips are helpful to hold the paper together when cutting the shapes.
   3. Repeat stride 2 to create another layer of colour below the first two. Have students gum the 3-layer shape in the center of the black sheet of construction newspaper.
   4. From the scraps of paper left, cut out and mucilage details for eyes, mouths, or other ornamental traditional designs. Create a border and designs around the center design.
   5. Have students share their design.

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Sources

• Source

burchbeent1992.blogspot.com

Source: https://portlandartmuseum.org/learn/educators/resources/posters/childs-mola-shirt/

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