What is mola embroidery?
What is mola embroidery?
Molas are simple yoke-type blouses richly decorated by intricate needlework. Molas can often have as many as four colored layers of cloth with extra color pieces and embroidery accents added. It takes many hours of sewing to create even the simplest mola.
What does mola mean Kuna?
What is a Mola? Mola, which originally meant bird plumage, is the Kuna Indian word for clothing, specifically blouse, and the word mola has come to mean the elaborate embroidered panels that make up the front and back of a Kuna woman’s traditional blouse.
What do mola designs represent?
Molas are often used as “living history books”, showing hidden symbols of medical plants, protective symbols, or legends and stories. Typical Mola colors, such as burgundy, orange, or black are referring to the vegetable colors as used for body painting.
How are the molas designs?
Molas are handmade using a reverse appliqué technique. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-coloured cloth (usually cotton) are sewn together; the design is then formed by cutting away parts of each layer. The edges of the layers are then turned under and sewn down.
What do Molas look like?
Sunfish, or mola, develop their truncated, bullet-like shape because the back fin which they are born with simply never grows. Mola in Latin means “millstone” and describes the ocean sunfish’s somewhat circular shape. They are a silvery color and have a rough skin texture.
What were Molas used for?
Molas were originally used as part of the women’s blouses. Molas are traditionally made and worn by the Kuna women and girls in pairs to serve as front and back panels of the blouses they wear everyday. Nowadays they are also sold to collectors and framed and exhibited.
What mola designs are most popular?
The most popular mola designs include birds, fish, animals, flowers, and plants, but artisans also incorporate images from everyday life, including commercial logos, buildings, boats, vehicles, and household objects.
Why did the name change from Kuna to Guna?
The area was formerly known as San Blas, and later as Kuna Yala, but the name was changed in October 2011 to “Guna Yala” when the Government of Panama recognized the claim of the people that “Guna” was a closer representation of the name.
What do molas look like?
Why is a sunfish called a sunfish?
Share. The ocean sunfish is a very large, oddly shaped fish that gets its name from his habit of floating on its side, at the sea surface, warming itself in the sun.
Why do Kuna people make molas?
Molas are traditionally made and worn by the Kuna women and girls in pairs to serve as front and back panels of the blouses they wear everyday. Nowadays they are also sold to collectors and framed and exhibited. The international market for molas has provided an economic benefit for the Kuna Indians.
What language do the Guna speak?
The Guna language is an aboriginal American language of the Chibchan family spoken by 50,000 to 70,000 people. Dulegaya is the primary language of daily life in the comarcas, and the majority of Guna children speak the language. Although it is relatively viable, Guna is considered an endangered language.
What is a Mola in Kuna?
Kuna women are proud of the fineness of their stitches, the exact color match of their thread, the complexity of their design. A woman will spend several hours each day sewing and young girls begin creating “ molitas ”, little molas, by the time they are six or seven.
Where can I find Kuna Indian textiles in Panama?
Kuna Indian Textile Art from the San Blas Islands of Panama. Molas for sale are posted in the different Galleries. The Kuna (or Guna) Indians are the indigenous people who live on small coral islands in the San Blas Archipelago along the Atlantic coast of Panama and Colombia.
What is a mola blouse?
The vibrant reds of the traditional mola have entranced fashion designers and are often found as bright accents in the home. Molas are collected as folk art: Kuna women have achieved a worldwide reputation for outstanding artistry. What is the origin of a mola, the traditional Kuna blouse?
What kind of fabric does the Kuna use?
The Kuna used percale imported from England for many years, but they now use mercerized cotton or poplin from Colombia or Asia.