Off the coast of Panama, the tropical San Blas Islands are home to the Indigenous Guna people. Guna women traditionally make and wear colorful blouses enhanced on the front and back with “molas” – meticulously handstitched cotton panels embellished with intricate designs in brilliant colors.
Creating a single panel can take as long as 80 hours using a technique called reverse appliqué. A woman bastes together anywhere from two to seven layers of cloth in different colors, and then forms the design by cutting away parts of each layer to expose another color. She tucks in the edges of the cut layers and sews them down. Often, the base fabric is black to provide a strong contrast with the other colors.
Mola designs typically include abstract geometric patterns or depictions of local flora and fauna, everyday life and local legends. Guna women also draw inspiration from outside influences: Today these include magazine covers, calendar art and product labels.
This blouse depicts Doctor Dolittle with his pet parrot, Polynesia, perched on his top hat. He leans against his two-headed “pushmi-pullyu” (double-sided llama), surrounded by banners promoting his Free Cash Carnival. Since these images closely resemble those of the 1967 movie starring Rex Harrison, this mola was probably inspired by publicity for the film.
The quality of a mola is based on the number of layers, the finesse of the stitches and the overall design. Over the years Guna women have developed thousands of designs, which have become increasingly complex and refined.
Researched by Katrinka Ebbe
Katrinka Ebbe has been a docent at the museum since 2014. She has lived in Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and worked extensively on development programs to support low-income artisans in Asia and Southeastern Europe.