Molas are the textiles made by the Kuna women of Kuna Yala, Panamá. Kuna Yala is the name for the group of islands located in the Caribbean Sea stretching from Panamá to Colombia. Molas are composed of several layers of cloth worked in a technique called reverse appliqué, creating lines and patterns by cutting away upper layers to reveal the colors of the lower layers. ' Mola ' refers to these individual panels but also to the entire garment that makes up the Kuna women's blouses. Molas, mostly created by women, are rich in form and content, and serve practical, symbolic, social, and economic functions. Content in the designs are reflective of both physical environment and Kuna society in general. Diverse aspects of Kuna culture are visually realized to represent the symbolic and aesthetic practices of oral literature and tradition, ritual, and everyday life.
The exhibition is curated by Cecilia Mendez, an artist and educator from Massachusetts. She received a BA in Visual Art with Honors from Brown University, and a MFA from the University of Michigan School of Art & Design. Since completing her degree at U-M, she worked for two years on the Detroit Connections Project, as both an Adjunct Assistant Professor through the School of Art & Design and as staff member and site coordinator through Arts of Citizenship. She is currently the Director of Exhibitions at the New Art Center in Newton, Massachusetts.
Ms. Mendez's affiliation with molas was born of her lifelong and ancestral relationship to Panamá. She was born in Massachusetts but spent several years in Panamá as a young child, the birthplace of her parents. Througout her life, she has traveled back and forth between the United States and Panamá. Molas were always a presence in her life and fueled in her the love of pattern, color, and process. In 1997, she visited for the first time the islands of Kuna Yala, where many of the Kuna women, makers of the molas, live and work. A subsequent visit in 2002 led her to reconnect with people she had met through familial contacts stretching back 40 years. The collection of molas that comprise this exhibit are the pieces she and her family have gathered over many years.
Ms. Mendez will give a gallery talk on Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 at 4:30pm in 2239 Lane Hall, 204 S. State St. A reception will follow the talk.
This project is co-sponsored by the School of Art and Design, the Program in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Arts of Citizenship Program.