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Mola (layered cut-cloth panel)
Fashion

Where does Mola (layered cut-cloth panel) come from?

The mola comes from the Guna people of Panama, most of whom live on the San Blas Islands of Guna Yala. Guna women make these bright panels by layering coloured cloth and cutting away shapes, and wear them on the front and back of their blouses.

From painted skin to cloth

In Dulegaya, the Guna language, mola means 'shirt' or 'clothing'. The art began with geometric designs that Guna women painted on their bodies in natural colours. After the Spanish arrived, the designs moved onto cotton, and later onto cloth that came from trade with ships bartering for coconuts in the 19th century. Women first painted the designs on fabric, then cut and sewed them. When that sewing technique began is not agreed: accounts range from the second half of the 1800s to around 1900.

Cut, fold and stitch

A mola is made by reverse appliqué. Two to seven layers of different-coloured cotton are stitched together and the design is cut into them, usually the largest shape from the top layer and smaller ones below, so each colour shows through in turn. The cut edges are folded under and sewn down with tiny stitches in matching thread. Patches, embroidery and fillers such as slits and sawtooth lines crowd the spaces. One mola can take from two weeks to six months.

A badge of Guna identity

Molas became the most recognisable sign of Guna identity. Around 1918 and 1919, when Panamanian authorities tried to suppress Guna customs, including mola dress, making and wearing molas became an act of protest, and in 1925 the Guna won the right to keep their traditions. Designs range from old geometric patterns to birds, sea creatures, film posters and cartoon characters. Sales grew with tourism in the 1940s, and in the 1960s women began making molas expressly for sale.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org › Mola (art form) ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Guna people ↗ · clevelandart.org ↗

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