Mola, Panels to a Blouse, depicting US Navy blimp and helicopter

Label

Hechas por las mujeres guna del Panamá actual, las molas –tejidos que se usan en la blusa, cosidos con una técnica de aplicación inversa– representan la vida cotidiana del pueblo matrilineal guna, quienes han resistido la incursión del estado panameño durante mucho tiempo. Las molas incluyen un importante contenido cosmológico e histórico, así como referencias a plantas, animales y actividades recreativas, incluyendo el béisbol. También marcan momentos clave en la cultura y la política guna, como la presencia de la Marina de los EE.UU.; y pueden ofrecer enseñanzas, representar períodos de transición, o documentar experiencias grupales. Más recientemente, a medida que crece el turismo en Panamá, las molas ahora se fabrican únicamente con fines decorativos e incluyen imágenes y motivos derivados de la cultura popular mundial, como Capitán Marvel u otros personajes de cómics.

Made by the Guna women of modern-day Panama, molas—textiles worn on blouses and woven using a reverse appliqué technique—depict the everyday life of the matrilineal Guna people, who have long resisted the incursion of the Panamanian state. Molas include important cosmological and historical content, as well as references to plants, animals, and recreational activities, including baseball. They also mark key moments in Guna culture and politics, such as the presence of the U.S. Navy; and can offer teachings, depict periods of transition, and index group experiences. More recently, as tourism to Panama grows, molas are now made purely for decoration and include imagery and motifs derived from global popular culture, such as comic book characters like Captain Marvel.

From the 2022 exhibition Bolas de Fuego: Culture and Conflict in Central America, curated by Jorge E. Cuéllar, Assistant Professor of Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies

Course History

LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022

LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022

LACS 8.01, Politics and Culture in Transnational Central America, Jorge Cuellar, Summer 2022

Studio Art 28.01, Studio Art 74.01, Printmaking II/III, Tricia Treacy, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

Bolas de Fuego: Culture and Conflict in Central America, Teaching exhibition, Guest curator Jorge E. Cuellar, Class of 1967 Gallery and the LeWitt Wall, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 28-September 25, 2022.

Dressing Up Culture: Molas from Kuna Yala, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 17-December 7, 2008.

Publication History

Barbara Thompson, Dressing Up Culture, Molas from Kuna Yala, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, Hood Museum of Art, 2008, ill. p. 4

Provenance

Ubigantupu Island, Panama; sold to Russell A. Mittermeier (Class of 1971) for the Dartmouth College Museum, 1970.

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