{"id":532,"date":"2012-07-06T18:37:00","date_gmt":"2012-07-06T18:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/06\/molas-2\/"},"modified":"2012-07-06T18:37:00","modified_gmt":"2012-07-06T18:37:00","slug":"molas-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/molas-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Molas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nMolas are highly embellished cloths created by the Kuna
\nIndians  of Panama.  The word \u201cmola\u201d (meaning \u201ccloth\u201d in the Kuna
\nlanguage) can refer to the panel itself or to the traditional woman\u2019s blouse
\nmade from these panels.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe Kuna fled from the Panama mainland to the coast, Comarca
\nSan Blas, and to the San Blas Islands during the Spanish conquest.  Only a small number of the islands are
\noccupied (about 45 out of over 300 islands in the archipelago) and until
\nrecently were consider fairly remote, although women canoed daily to the
\nmainland to secure drinking water until 30 or so years ago when water was piped
\nto some of the islands. Interestingly, the Kuna are considered to be the only
\nindigenous Indians never to have been conquered.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nMolas are made by layering cotton fabric, which is
\nindigenous to the area, not obtained through trade, and using a reverse
\nappliqu\u00e9 technique to create elaborate designs. The panel may contain as few as
\ntwo or three layers of different colored cloth or many, producing a rainbow of
\nvivid color and pattern. The panel is then further enhanced with surface
\nappliqu\u00e9 and embroidery. The reverse appliqu\u00e9 technique is more often
\nassociated with Hawaiian quilting or Tivaevae bedcovers of the Cook Islands or
\nTifaifai of Tahiti.  The notable
\ndifference is the intricacy of the mola designs.  Also note, the Polynesian people were taught the technique by
\nmissionaries and the cloth was not indigenous to the region.  There is no clear understanding of how the
\nKuna adapted this laborious technique of surface embellishment. The designs
\nreflect the way of Kuna life in the jungle and sea.  Geometric designs are often seen as well.  <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIn the 1960\u2019s with help form Peace Corps volunteers a
\nmola-making co-op was formed to offer a source of income to the Kuna
\nwomen.  Today, there is quite a market
\nfor this product and the co-operative in Panama City exports these textiles as
\nwell as selling them to tourists.  Once
\na tourist market is established there is often a simplification in the actual
\nproduct and, as with any tourist purchase, molas may vary in quality.  The higher the number of layers, the higher
\nthe quality of the stitching, the extent of surface appliqu\u00e9 and embroidery,
\nnaturally, the higher the price.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/o:p><\/div>\n
\nThese are two very simple examples of mola panels, quite
\nsmall, probably intended as patches for a shirt or pockets of a jacket.  Very tourist, inexpensive but quite vibrant
\nand charming, nevertheless. Note that the appliqu\u00e9 of the main motifs (the
\nbirds, branches and flowers) is surface. 
\nOn the smaller panel the lime green flower petals are reverse appliqu\u00e9
\nand there are simple embroidery stitches, stem, button-hole and straight, in
\ncontrasting colors on each.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Molas are highly embellished cloths created by the Kuna Indians  of Panama.  The word \u201cmola\u201d (meaning \u201ccloth\u201d in the Kuna language) can refer to the panel itself or to the traditional woman\u2019s blouse made from these panels. The Kuna fled from the Panama mainland to the coast, Comarca San Blas, and to the San Blas…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinnamonstudio.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}