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Molas: A Women’s Global Folk Art

Nadia De Leon

Kuna women with her molas for sale. Note: From aventuraspanama.com

Final Paper

Folk Art

Fall 2009

Dr. Tim Evans

Western Kentucky University

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Table of Contents

Introduction 3

The Kuna of Panama

History 4

Gender Roles 5

Molas: Technique, Style, and Ethnoaesthetics 7

The Emergence and Production of Molas as a Global Phenomenon 8

Molas as a Women’s Folk Art 9

Molas and Identity 11

Outside, Modern, and Global Content in Mola Themes 14

Commercialization of Molas and the Global Market 21

Molas as Women’s Commodity Art

The Mola Cash Economy and Women’s Lives 26

The Cooperative 29

Mola Politics and Policy 31

Conclusion 32

References 34

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“Mola commercialization is one of the most far-

reaching changes affecting Kuna women‟s lives in

this century” (Tice 1995:19).

This essay explores molas, a textile art of the Kuna Indians from Panama. Current

scholarship has focused on molas as product, as art objects, analyzing their style, technique, or

meaning (Tice 1995:18). In this essay, I look at molas as process – as a global process in fact –

crucial to Kuna women‟s lives and, nowadays, highly commercialized. The majority of the

scholarship I consulted for this essay states that the designs now used to create molas come from

ancient body painting. However, molas did not come into existence until contact with outsiders

who brought along fabric and needles. Women still obtain their materials, and often also their

inspiration, to make molas from outside sources from across the world. Additionally, molas are

sold commercially worldwide. Because of this, I analyze molas as a global folk art, though that

may sound contradictive at first.

I look into how the history of outside influences (from colonizers and pirates to

Panamanian politics and international commerce) combined with a fierce protection of their

traditions have affected the Kuna society. Mola making is a central part of Kuna women‟s

everyday lives. I pay special attention to the processes through which traditional aesthetics,

techniques and designs interrelate with outside influences and adapt to commercialization. Well

into the 21st century, the art form is very alive, constantly evolving and adapting, and has become

an important source of income for Kuna households.

In fact, not just molas but also new items (shoes, bags, etc.) made out of molas are now

being sold around the world. Typing molas into an online search engine will bring up numerous

sources from which molas can be bought. Molas have become by far the best known symbol for

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the Kuna culture to outsiders, and Kuna women themselves attach ethnic pride and identity value

to wearing molas. Although women often sell their molas directly to tourists, they also organize

in groups to fulfill large orders, and have formed a sizeable cooperative.

This essay considers the effects the change from production-for-use to production-for-

sale has had in the art form, the region‟s economy, and the lives of the women who produce it.

This is accomplished by investigating the entire system of production and consumption, as well

as the current global interest and market for mola products, especially over the internet.

The Kuna of Panama

History

The Kuna of Panama reside in the San Blas archipelago and adjacent coastal areas in

what is now known as the Kuna Yala comarca in the Eastern Caribbean coast of Panama, as well

as in the Darien province and in Panama City.

Kuna society is democratic and egalitarian, based on highly organized cooperation from

all members of the community. Even before colonization, they had a democratic system in place

that allowed individuals to vote for their leaders (Howe 1998:70). Throughout the centuries, their

leaders have carefully evaluated the potential positive or negative effects of foreign influences,

thus welcoming some aspects they perceive as beneficial and evading those perceived as

threatening. They have repeatedly resented colonizing powers and allied with other foreign

forces to support their resistance efforts against colonization. In the early 1900s, Leonardo

Gasso, a Spanish Roman Catholic priest who resided with the Kuna, wrote: “They wish to ally

themselves with anyone at all in exchange for throwing out the one who comes closest to them”

(Gasso p. 85, as cited in Howe 1998:28).

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One way in which the Kuna have preserved their traditions and social cohesiveness has

been by forbidding, or at least discouraging, intermarriage with any of the peoples that have

moved into the Isthmus of Panama over the centuries (Puls 1988:8). It has been suggested,

however, that the Kuna may have first obtained cloth and sewing tools from a colony of

Huguenots that maintained close trade relationships with them during the 1700s (Stout 1947:54).

The Kuna even allowed intermarriage with the Huguenots, until the 1740‟s when the Kuna

revolted against being exploited for cheap labor, killed the Huguenots, and took over the cacao

fields, which they successfully traded with ships that passed by regularly (Langebaek 1991).

Other groups that have had a presence in the Kuna territories include the American

Protestant missionaries and the Panamanian government. In 1915 a governor to the region was

appointed by the Panamanian government. Rules to encourage the assimilation of the Kuna to

mainstream society were put into effect, such as forbidding them to wear their traditional dress.

During the 1910s Anna Coope, a Protestant missionary, established a school were

children learned English. At the same time, Panamanians sent lay teachers to set up schools were

children learned Spanish. The Kuna took full advantage of educational opportunities, but

resented attempts to change or limit their culture. Another revolt in which all of those outsiders

who did not escape were killed took place in February of 1925 (Howe 1986). Nowadays, the

Kuna retain autonomy of their region and have control over their own politics, as well as

representation in Panama‟s central government, and access to health care and primary education

(Jennings 2005, Tice 1995).

Gender Roles

Citing a 1699 publication by Lionel Wafer, Jennings explains there was evidence that the

Kuna were cotton cultivators at the time and that women had the technology and ability to weave

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hammocks and cloth they wrapped below their waists (2005:22). Nowadays, most Kuna men

wear Western clothing while women retain their traditional clothing (Jennings 2005:47).

Kuna myths and cosmology give Kuna women a symbolic central role and suggest they

hold a high status in Kuna society (Helms 1976, Howe and Hirschfeld 1981). Kuna women are

considered preservers of traditional values and control the family finances (Puls 1988: 18). Howe

writes: “Kuna women tend to be strong, purposeful and assertive, they enjoy considerable

collective prestige, and they strongly influence household decisions” (1981:320). Although men

hold most position of political/religious power, Kuna society is matrilineal, “with property rights

passing through the female line” (Puls 1988:54), and matrilocal, “once married, a man is

expected to reside in his mother-in-law‟s household and to work under the direction of his father-

in-law. Any fish caught, game hunted, or produce harvested must be given to the mother-in-law

to distribute. This is true even regarding food harvested from fields to which he owns the rights”

(Tice 1995:46).

Given the focus on gender specific perspectives of this essay, it is important to point out

that the Kuna have four gender classifications: male, female, omekit (womanlike biological

man), and macharetkit (manlike biological woman). Tice explains that:

“Male gender crossing among the Kuna is characterized primarily by choice of

productive labor and demeanor and only secondarily by sexual orientation. According to

interviewees, omekits are usually identified as such as children. These boys talk and sing

like little girls and always want to play with girls, not boys. They also are interested in

„female tasks‟ such as cooking, sewing molas, and sweeping … In the 1980s, omekits …

were members of the mola cooperative and were well known as highly competent mola

sewers… Sewing molas is a „woman‟s‟ task whether performed by a biological woman

or a man who is socially defined as womanlike” (1995:73-75).

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Molas: Technique, Style, and Ethnoaesthetics

Molas are a textile art, similar to quilting, created by Kuna women. The word mola

literally means blouse, and they are used as the front and back panels for the blouses that Kuna

women wear (Parker 1977:21).

Intricate designs in mola panels are created through a combination of appliqué and

reverse appliqué, in which layers of fabric are laid on top of each other or cut through to reveal

colors underneath. Raw edges are rolled under and held in place with minute stitches. Additional

colors can be added by inserting pieces of fabric in between the layers. Designs are also

embellished using embroidery. According to Jennings, “the Kuna aesthetic involves color and

design that encompasses all of the available space … colors are exposed through small lateral

slits that are beyond those needed to execute the body of the design” (2005:26).

The simplest molas are formed out of two or three pieces of fabric of different colors, but

intricate ones have up to seven layers. Their excellence is also judged based on the fine stitching,

which aims to be invisible. Designs follow traditional patterns, but also allow for innovation

(Parker 1977:48). Thus, molas from a century ago featured mostly geometric patterns (Parker

1977:52), while contemporary molas prominently feature aspects of their environment: flowers

and animals (especially birds and ocean animals, such as fish and sea turtles).

Scholars such as Jennings, state that the mola designs arise from body painting, which

Wafer described as “figures of birds, beasts, men, trees, or the like, … These pigments were very

bright and highly saturated colors of red, yellow and blue” (as cited on Jennings 2005:24). It has

been suggested that these designs were first painted onto cloth and later created through

appliqué. Contemporary mola designs emphasize those same colors and still often depict the

subjects described by Wafer.

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The Emergence and Production of Molas as a Global Phenomenon

We do not know exactly when Kuna women gained access to the cloth, needles, scissors,

and thread necessary to produce molas (Salvador 1978:10), or whether they developed the

appliqué technique independently or derived it from cutting and sewing techniques learned from

outsiders. However, we do now that as early as the 1600s, perhaps even earlier, the kuna had

established friendship and commercial relationships with pirates and merchants (Tice 1995:61).

In the contemporary Kuna women‟s dress, including the mola blouses, foreign elements “have

combined with traditional ones to create a unique clothing style” (Salvador 1978:10).

By the early 19th

century, the mola blouse had become the traditional Kuna women style

of dress and the practice of sewing molas was pervasive among all Kuna women. The oldest

documented mola in existence was collected by Eleanor York Bell in 1909 and is now housed at

the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. (Puls 1988:22). Jennings traces the early history

of mola blouses thus:

“Lucien De Puydt, writing of his observations while in Panama from 1861 to 1865, said

that the women wore blouses down to their knees (p 97). By1888, Armand Reclus writes

that the women were wearing an „ungraceful blue blouse which falls scarcely to the knee

and which is edged with yellow or red design‟ (p 206). By 1927, when Erland

Nordenskiold was collecting artifacts for the Gotenburg museum in Sweden, the style had

evolved to one that closely resembles today‟s mola blouse” (2005:25).

According to Tice, as of 1985,

“all the materials needed to sew a mola (cloth, thread, a needle, a pair of scissors, and a

thimble) could be purchased or traded for at one or more local store in every San Blas

community. Bolts of coarse cloth, generally used only as the bottom layer of a mola, were

acquired by store owners from Colombian traders. Most of the cloth, however, was

purchased in Panama City and came from Japan, China, or England. Thread, also

purchased in Panama City, was imported from France and England. Scissors came from

West Germany and China” (1995:77).

Although a uniquely Kuna phenomenon, molas are the result of, and are dependent on,

the international commerce that brings such materials from around the globe to the Kuna women

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in a relatively isolated coastal region of Panama. Thus, we can see that molas are a remarkable

example of bricolage, as foreign elements are adapted to a new context to create something novel

and original. Molas are also an excellent example of the concept of „emergent tradition‟, since

the Kuna consider them an important aspect of their cultural identity, to be practiced and

preserved, although they are a relatively new tradition. Mola art is a quintessential „living

tradition‟ which is constantly evolving, while absorbing or rejecting outside influences, and

negotiating conservative and innovative processes.

Molas as a Women’s Folk Art

The Kuna believe that hundreds of years ago, God sent Ibeorkun to teach them how to

conduct a good life (Stout 1947:41). He taught that women should be responsible for sewing

their own clothes, as well as those for their daughters and mothers if they were unable to sew

their own (Nordenskiold 1979(1925):135). Thus, mola-making is seen by many Kuna as a

significant, if not sacred, women‟s occupation. Jennings points out that, because of the time

consuming nature of mola making, it would not be possible for women to practice it without the

sanctioning of the entire community. In fact, without the religious and social paradigm that

justifies it, mola-making would not have evolved and thrived within a sustenance society, which

the Kuna society has largely been until recent years (2005:21, 38).

As a matter of fact, Kuna women keep their started molas and materials always within

reach and use any spare moment for stitching (Puls 1988:40). Moreover, most Kuna women used

to “spend many hours per day fetching water for drinking, cooking, washing, and bathing” from

the mainland rivers, until the construction of aqueducts to many islands in the 70s. This shift

could be considered as one of the major factors that allowed for a situation favorable to the

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commercialization of molas, since it “considerably increased women‟s available time for mola

making” (Jennings 2005:52).

Mola making techniques are learned informally, passed from the older women to the

young girls of the Kuna communities from early childhood. Women develop and refine their

mola making skills throughout their lives, although the Kuna also recognize individual inborn

talent. Aesthetics, traditional designs, and excellence standards are also passed from generation

through generation fluidly, because women tend to sew in groups and critique each other‟s work

(Jennings 2005:38).

Kuna women distinguish themselves within their society by being fine mola makers. In

fact, they “may wash their eyes in water steeped with forest leaves called sapigarda, whose

patterns evoke the marks of a pen on paper,” in order to dream beautiful mola designs. However,

the belief is that traditional “medicine baths, however important, matter less than apprenticeship”

and practice (Salvador 1997:48-49).

In regards to Kuna mola aesthetics and excellence standards, Jennings points out that

“there are specific techniques that are highly regarded by the Kuna, such as compact and parallel

lines and serrated edges. Frequent color alterations and full use of the area allocated to the panel

are the signs of a mola panel that was well designed” (2005:12).

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Figure 1. Cuna mother sewing a mola, "one of the most common place scenes” in San Blas, and mola depicting a similar

scene. Parker (1977) p. 61-62.

Figure 2. Women sewing molas at the entrance of a house. Salvador (1997) p. 169.

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Molas and Identity

According to Howe, one of the main reasons for the Kuna‟s focus on political autonomy

is concerned with maintaining their dignity and identity (1998:8). Their appearance, clothing,

body painting, and jewelry, are considered primordial because they allow for recognition and

make a proud outward statement of Kuna identity (Howe 1998:125, Puls 1988:18). He states

that Kuna women “create beautifully sewn decorative blouses … to display themselves as being

Kuna, a culture apart from the rest of the world” (1998:17). Salvador asserts that: “mola making

is considered by the Kuna to be an integral part of their culture and important to their ethnic

identity” (1978:22). Such is the importance of women‟s right to wear their mola costume as an

assertion of their identity, that scholars such as Tice state it was “at the heart” of the 1925

revolution, after the Panamanian government had prohibited congresos (Kuna‟s self-governance

meetings), healing methods, and women‟s dress” (1995:40).

Thus, molas came to be the main Kuna ethnicity marker, and symbolize pride in their

traditions. Jennings states: “Pride of dress became as important as being Kuna” (2005:34).

However, it is important to point out that not all Kuna women wear the traditional dress.

According to Tice:

“Dress code varies from island to island. On some islands … what a woman wears is

considered her own business, and women wear western dress, mola, or a combination as

they see fit. On other islands, however, women and girls of all ages are required by their

local congresos to wear mola (full Kuna dress). This is considered a symbol of resistance

to acculturation into western, or non-Kuna, culture” (1995:28).

I find it fascinating that molas have come to embody Kuna identity so thoroughly for

both insiders and outsiders, given the fact that Kuna women did not began to make molas until

little over a century ago. As historical records show, Kuna women‟s dress traditions have

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changed rapidly and repeatedly in the past few centuries. In fact, smaller details, such as the

length or width of nose rings or mola blouses, or the shape of the mola blouses sleeves, have

been changing according to fashion through the decades, as can be observed in pictures of Kuna

women from the „40s to the present. Regardless of the plasticity of Kuna costuming fashion, it is

clear that exterior appearance is a major aspect and manifestation of their ethnic identity. The

appearance and importance of making and wearing molas is, thus, also an excellent example of

„emergent identity‟ which is constantly redefined in ever changing economic, cultural, and

sociopolitical contexts.

Furthermore, molas are not only a prime identifier of Kuna identity, but have also come

to represent Panama as a whole. This is in part due to the tourism industry and the efforts of the

Panamanian government to attract tourists to the country, to a certain extent by highlighting „the

exotic other‟. Kuna women were prominently featured in Panama‟s tourist literature during the

1960s (Tice 1995:66). Tice recounts a personal communication, the veracity of which I

personally witnessed during the late 1990s and up to the present:

“By 1985, molas had become a well-recognized symbol of Panama. Molas were hung in

prominent public places throughout Panama City. Large murals made from numerous

mola panels sewn together covered entire walls in one of Panama‟s major hotels and in

the lobbies of two banks … it was not uncommon to find framed mola panels hanging in

hotel lobbies, government offices, and banks … One gas station had mola designs …

Decorative ceramic tiles painted with mola designs were prominent on at least two public

buildings in the city … In the 1990s, wearing clothing incorporating molas has become

fashionable and a symbol of national pride (Anna Wenzel, personal communication)”

(1995:94).

Furthermore, it could also be interpreted that Kuna women have also used their molas to express

their identity as Panamanian citizens (see Figure 3).

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Figure 3. Mola with the national eagle and Panamanian flags. Letters read: November 4th, Flag Day. Puls (1988) p. 36.

Outside, Modern, and Global Content in Mola Themes

Almost anything a Kuna woman sees or hears about can become the inspiration for a

mola (Salvador 1978:46). Michael Perrin categorized molas by subject into the following groups:

ancestral, those depicting animals, those depicting myths and rites, those depicting tools that are

used in daily life, and those that show modern images. Other scholars have classified them

similarly or by design style (i.e. labyrinthic). For the purpose of this study I have classified them

in three broader categories: ancestral, traditional, and modern. Ancestral molas are those that

feature geometric patterns (see Figure 4). Traditional molas are those depicting nature

(landscape, plants, and animals) or culture (rituals, everyday activities, myths, etc.) (See Figures

5 and 6). From my personal experience, I have come to the conclusion that these molas,

especially those depicting the flora and fauna of the Kuna‟s coastal homeland are the ones most

commonly produced and sold to tourists. Modern molas include those with catholic themes (see

Figures 7 and 8), political themes (see Figure 9), and those depicting modern objects (such as

airplanes and labels) (see Figures 10 through 15).

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Figure 4. Geometric Design Mola. From the collection of the Burke Gallery of Art at Denison University. Jennings (2005)

p. 77.

Figure 5. Animal Mola Patches. Set of six with varied

designs for sale by Crizmac: Art and Cultural

Education Materials, Inc. at crizmac.com.

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Figure 6. Mola depicting a council meeting. "Chiefs sitting in their hammocks surrounded by people". Jennings (2005) p.

10.

Figure 7. Noah's Arch Mola and detail of sleeve with

sequins. From the collection of the Burke Gallery of Art

at Denison University. Jennings (2005) p. 164.

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Figure 8. Crucified Christ Mola. From the collection of the Burke Gallery of Art at Denison University. Jennings (2005) p.

141.

Figure 9. Mola Blouse and detail of the political candidates portrayed. From the collection of the Burke Gallery of Art at

Denison University. Jennings (2005) p. 126.

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Figure 10. Mola depicting the logo of a Panamanian television channel, which in turn is a stylized version of an ancient

pottery motif painted on a polychrome plate discovered at the Sitio Conte archeological site in the province of Coclé.

Parker (1977) p. 41.

Figure 11. Mola blouse and the Panamanian quarter-of-a-Balboa coin from which the design was copied. Parker (1977) p.

39.

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Figure 12. Mola depicting the RCA Victor logo. "Numerous versions appeared during the 1950s, reflecting the Cuna's

love for both dogs and phonographs." Parker (1977) p. 12.

Figure 13. Mola blouse inspired by Parrot Safety Matches box. Salvador (1997) p. 168.

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Figure 14. Aqueduct Mola. Puls (1988) p. 37.

Figure 15. Airplane mola. Salvador (1995) p. 196.

It is clear that the subjects depicted on molas often reflect the exposure of the Kuna to

outside concepts and items, their incursion into Panamanian national politics, and the prevalence

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of air transportation to and from the San Blas islands, as aspects of their everyday lives.

However, it is also important to point out that the commercialization of mola products has also

influenced the art form, alienating it from the Kuna traditional context. Some examples of this

process include molas made into Christmas ornaments, stuffed animals, purses, and shoes. Tice

relates a perfect example of the situation:

“An owner of a large chain of supermarkets in Panama City ordered one thousand small

mola snowmen to be used as Christmas tree ornaments. One day a number of women

were sitting together sewing these snowmen. One leaned over and asked me what

snowmen ate, how big they were, and if they lived in the jungle or the sea. None of the

women had the foggiest idea of what they were sewing. As we sat there with sweat

dripping down our necks, I attempted to explain in Kuna, a language with no word for

snow, all about snowmen” (1995:94-95).

Commercialization of Molas and the Global Market

The San Blas archipelago is geographically isolated from the rest of Panama. However, it

is relatively easily accessible by ships coming from the Caribbean. As early as the 1600s, the

Kuna engaged in lucrative trade with the Scotts, the French, and the British colony of Jamaica, as

well as with pirates (Stout 1947:53). Long before a market for molas developed in the mid

1900s, the Kuna had been rapidly drawn into the international economy through the

commercialization of coconuts and lobster, as well as wage labor migration aboard ships, in

Panama City, and formerly at the Panama Canal Zone (Tice 1995:34). The tourism industry and

the commercialization of molas undoubtedly benefited from such previous experiences and the

networks that arose thereof.

As early at the 1940s and 1950s, Kuna women sold their used blouses, mainly through

personal and kinship networks with Kuna men who had contacts in Panama City (Tice 1995:63).

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However, as the demand increased in later decades, Kuna women began producing molas

specifically for sale. As early as the 1960s molas had become collectors‟ items (Puls 1988:29).

The development of a global market for molas can be attributed to a number of reasons. For

example, Tice points out that:

“Interest in ethnic arts in general, and molas in particular, increased during the 1960s and

1970s in the United States and Europe. Molas became increasingly sought after by

museums, galleries, fashion designers, and home decorators in the United States. They

were exhibited in various places, including the Field Museum of Natural History in

Chicago, the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C., and several university art

departments. Art galleries in several cities, notably Miami and New York, also featured

molas. Newspaper articles appeared acclaiming molas as genuine works of art … in

1970, a mola skirt was featured on the cover of the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalogue.

From 1966 to 1978, no fewer than four popular books about molas were published in

English. These ranged from „how-to‟ books to those destined for display on a coffee table

…promotion … resulted in increase demand” (Tice 1995:71).

According to the Panamanian Census1 data, the number of molas produced reportedly

increased over threefold between 1960 and 1980 (Tice 1995:68). By now, cruise ships have

been stopping at several islands in the region for decades. Planes land daily and several hotels

offer their services to tourists. Buying molas is the primary tourist activity (Tice 1995:69-70).

Molas have become not just the archetypal Kuna packaged ethnicity item, but the standard

Panamanian souvenir. In fact, molas are also sold extensively in Panama city – from the streets

of the colonial neighborhood visited by tourists daily, to the ruins of the old Spanish city, to the

international airport. As Tice points out, “unlike bulky baskets or ceramics, molas are light, non-

breakable, and take up very little room in a suitcase” (1995:67).

As agricultural endeavors have declined –due, among other reasons, to the migration of

men to the cities, blights, and the instability of the coconut market (Tice 43-44, 64) – and cash

1 In Censos Nacionales de 1980: Cuarto censo nacional agropecuario 17 al 24 de mayo 1981 [Panama City: Dirección del Estadísticas y Censo, 1981 : 59-60]

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needs have increased (Salvador 1997:35), the income from mola sales has become essential to

Kuna households (Tice 1995:56). In fact, the commercialization of molas has been a major factor

in the ongoing change within Kuna society from a sustenance economy to an economy

dependant on cash (Tice 1995:178). According to Tice, the Kuna often trade coconuts with

Colombian ships for “hammocks, metal storage bins, large steel cooking pots, or one-hundred-

pound sacks of sugar … the money generated from molas is needed to purchase things for the

household such a sugar, powdered cocoa, salt, and rice … clothing and personal items …

children‟s school supplies” (Tice 1995:30). Decades ago, cocoa, salt, sugar cane, and rice for

household consumption used to be fully provided by sustenance agriculture. Currently, tourism

and mola commerce are the main source of income for the Kuna (Campos Candanedo 2002).

It is important to point out that the mola market, both in Panama and abroad, is

vulnerable to political and economic global forces. As an example of a situation in which tourism

in Kuna Yala was affected by outside forces, Tice cites the cease of economic activity that took

place in the entire country during the economic sanctions previous to the 1989 U.S. invasion of

Panama to capture General Noriega. It took years for the Kuna economy to overcome the adverse

effects of the decline in tourism that followed the invasion (1995:71-72).

According to Tice, in the 1980s, Kuna women‟s mola blouses were “selling for high

prices in small ethnic arts stores, fancy boutiques, and art galleries throughout the United States

and Europe” (1995:12). Nowadays, molas continue to be exported in large quantities. In fact, the

Panamanian Ministry of Commerce and Industry indicates that $1,420,182 worth of molas were

exported in the year 2001, ranking as the main handmade craft exported from Panama (Campos

Candanedo 2002). As we approach the second decade of the 21st Century, molas are now also

largely sold over the internet.

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Panart.com, crossroadstrade.com,

molaartandcraft.com, and wearmolas.com,

are some of the online stores that sell molas

worldwide. The latter specializes in selling

not traditional mola panels or blouses, but

new applications of mola art: from women‟s

flat and high heeled shoes, boots, and sandals, to leather and fabric purses, and other accessories.

Besides shopping options, molas have numerous other forms of internet presence, such as

abundant how-to web pages with instructions for making molas2. There are also many personal

mola galleries from individuals‟ collections3, often categorized by theme (i.e., abstract or

geometric, animals, flowers, etc.). There are also numerous academic and coffee table books

available for sale online, as well as how-to books, such as Charlotte Patera‟s Mola Technique’s

for Today Quilters and Jane Hill‟s The Electric Mola: Sewing Machine Method for Making the

Traditional Handcrafted Mola. There is also a mola coloring book, Caren Caraway‟s Mola

Design Book; a book with 45 “permission-free designs”, Mola Designs by Frederick W. Shaffer;

and a children‟s book, Maricel Presilla‟s Mola: Cuna Life Stories and Art. Doing a quick search

online for molas will also bring up book reviews4 and lesson plans

5. Finally, there are also some

online museum exhibitions on molas6, most notably the National Museum of the American

2 For example, http://thorup.com/makeamola.html and http://charlottepatera.com/html/MAKE%20A%20MOLA/makeamola.html. 3 For example, http://park.org/SanBlasDeCuna/molas.html and http://charlottepatera.com/html/1molacollect.html. 4 For example, http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/fabric_crafts/27030 and http://planetpatchwork.com/molabook.htm 5 For example, http://www.hipark.austin.isd.tenet.edu/special/kidstudio/molas/molas.html, http://hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu/docs/0109teachlearnlookmolas.pdf, and http://www.dickblick.com/multicultural/mola/. 6 For example, http://anthromuseum.missouri.edu/minigalleries/panamamolas/intro.shtml and http://artshiftsanjose.com/?p=2024.

Figure 6: "Isabel Open Toe Heels".

Note: From Wearmolas.com. Figure 7: "Cossack-

Boot". Note: From

Wearmolas.com

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Indian‟s exhibition The Art of Being Kuna: Layers of Meaning Among the Kuna of Panama. The

exhibition features 32 pieces from their collection, details about their collaboration with Kuna

individuals who visited the museum as cultural specialists, and contextual information7 (see

Figure 16).

Figure 16: "Dr. Mari Lyn Salvador, curator of The Art of Being Kuna, pictured above, top right, with the visiting Kuna

cultural specialists". Note: National Museum of the American Indian.

As the interest in and documentation of mola art feeds and is fed by its

commercialization, the art form adapts to new contexts. Any form of folk art formerly produced

for personal use is bound to change as it shifts to being produced with the costumer in mind. Tice

points out that “mola designs, colors, and shapes have all changed as a result of their

commercialization” (1995:97). For example, women utilize pastel colors in the molas they sew

for sale that they do not use in the molas they wear, which tend to have brighter and highly

contrasted colors. There is also a higher predominance of animal figures in molas sewn for sale,

7 At http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/the_art_of_being_kuna/

26

reflecting the tourist‟s preferences. However, the cooperative many mola producers belong to

also encourages revival of „traditional‟ geometric designs for „authentic‟ molas to be sold at

higher prices. Thus, it is clear that the commoditization of molas can simultaneously encourage

change and perpetuation, even regression, within the art form – all effective forms of the most

recent outside influence in the evolution of molas.

Molas as Women’s Commodity Art

MOLA CASH ECONOMY AND WOMEN‟S LIVES

Although many women from egalitarian societies who shifted from sustenance to cash-

based economy lose their former access to resources, Tice argues that has not been the case for

Kuna women. In the 1980s, she wrote: “for the Kuna, gender symmetry remains in many areas of

their lives, despite their direct involvement in the global capitalist economy” (1995:13). She also

points out that their experience might provide clues “to prevent or begin to reverse the negative

and unequal impact of economic development … on women relative to men” (1995:5).

In fact, in some islands, the commercial production of molas has shifted previously firm

gender-based divisions of labor. In the process, some young men have taken up tasks previously

exclusively performed by women, such as cooking, in order for women to have more time to sew

(Tice 1995:125). In the islands in which gender divisions of labor remained strict, older women

took over more household work as younger women began dedicating more time to sewing molas

(Tice 1995:126).

One of the reasons for the outstanding benefits of mola-making for Kuna women is the

fact that they have individual control over their own income from mola sales, a particular

27

socioeconomic situation unlike that of many other populations in similar circumstances around

the world (Tice 1995:176). Addditionally, Kuna women have developed a keen business sense

and worked cooperatively. Tice summarizes it thus:

“Alone, the commercialization of crafts may not provide impoverished women with a

sustainable stable income. As the Kuna have shown, however, craft commercialization

can be used to help women develop and finance collective means for obtaining credit,

access to foodstuffs and other commodities, language and business skills, and leverage

for participating in regional and national economic planning processes” (1995:187-188).

As we have seen, Tice argues that Kuna women have a more stable income source than

other third world women (1995:16), such as those in places where foreign industries have

brought wage jobs. In such cases, women have often abandoned their crafts to join the labor

force, leaving them with no source of income when industries move out. However, we must also

consider that the mola commerce relies on fashion and tourism – both very unstable outside

forces.

As Tice points out, when a women‟s craft is commercialized chances exist for both

income-generating opportunities as for the exploitation of producers. The extent to which women

gain or lose economic control when crafts are commercialized varies according to many issues

(1995:11). For example, several barriers prevented Kuna women in the 1980s from selling

directly to store owners in Panama City: the distance, since many women did not travel to the

city; and the language, since many women did not speak (much) Spanish. Thus, they often

depended on Kuna male intermediaries (Tice 1995:91). Although the situation has improved and

the women-run cooperative of mola producers has grown and taken over the role of many

intermediaries, the members of the cooperative still have to fight for their inclusion in economic

development planning meetings (Tice 1995:22). Even though Kuna women have gained new

28

opportunities for political participation in recent decades, they are still largely “left out of

regional and local economic development planning activities” (Tice 1995:51).

It is important to point out that mola sales help many Kuna mothers to partially or

completely support their children‟s studies (Tice 1995:21). In fact, although most Kuna single

mothers live in extended households (Tice 1995:173), the income they generate from selling

molas is vital for their own survival and the sustenance of their children. According to Tice,

“Kuna women become single mothers in several ways: divorce or separation, death of partner,

absence of partner due to wage labor migration, or no partner” (1995:171). In fact, she states:

“approximately half of the households in each of the three communities I studied were supported

by mothers living without partners” (1995:172). As one would expect, “households where single

mothers resided with their children were generally more dependent on mola sales than were other

households” (1995:174).

Tice tells the particular story of how the change from a sustenance economy to one based

on cash affected a Kuna woman she met:

“Her life was very different then. Food was more abundant, and her young children‟s

father was still living with them in her mother‟s household. He planted plantains, corn,

and rice and provided them with fresh fish. Amma tells me that her husband decided to

go to Panama City to find a paying job. At first, he sent ten dollars every now and then,

but soon the money stopped coming. She heard from her friends living in the city that he

had found another woman. Amma‟s father was old and could not keep up with all the

agricultural labor. Amma began to sell her molas so that they could buy a little rice

occasionally. In those days, there was no cooperative and store owners paid only two

dollars per mola. Amma was not making any money, so when the mola cooperative

started, she joined. It had been a struggle, but without the money she made from selling

molas through the cooperative, her children would have gone hungry. Many women were

in her same situation; it seemed that more and more often they needed money to eat.”

29

THE COOPERATIVE

The cooperative of mola producers emerged from a Peace Corp initiative in the 1960s.

At the time, most women had to sell their molas through intermediaries who traveled, since only

women in the Mandinga Bay area could sell directly to tourists (Tice 1995:102). These

intermediaries exploited the women by purchasing molas by the hundreds for incredibly cheap

prices in order to make large profits themselves. Before the cooperative, women had little option

and needed the cash (Tice 1995:64-65). In 1974 the cooperative, officially named Los

Productores de Molas R.L., became licensed and recognized. In 1978 they received a $30,000

grant from the Inter-American Foundation which allowed them to “(1) expand membership; (2)

further diversify products sold by the cooperative; (3) lower production costs; (4) develop new

educational and income-generating opportunities for members; and (5) increase women‟s

participation in politics” (Tice 1995:103).

The mola cooperative has provided women with more control over the distribution of

income from mola sales, so the producers can retain a more fair percentage of the price molas

actually sell for. This is largely due to the fact that the cooperative is entirely run and

administered by women who are mola producers themselves. According to Tice, “while the

Kuna have developed many projects designed to maintain local control over important economic

resources such as land, urban housing, and the tourist trade, the mola cooperative is the only

project in which women have taken exclusive leadership” (1995:101).

Nowadays, mola producers have a number of options to sell their products, each with its

own advantages and disadvantages. Independent mola makers are able to sell directly to tourists,

if they live in certain areas, which allows them creative freedom. However, they require capital

to purchase fabric and have no assured buyers. Furthermore, the prices they get for their molas

30

will vary widely depending on their options in regards to who to sell it to, when, and where.

Members of the cooperative, however, do not require capital, have a guaranteed market, and a

better sense of buyer‟s preferences. Nonetheless, their creative choices are somehow limited by

the market and the way the cooperative chooses to organize its members‟ production. Yet

another option now available to mola producers is to sew pieces (pockets, collars, yokes, etc.) for

Panamanian or foreign fashion designers or garment industries (Tice 1995:84-87).

The mola cooperative now sells copious

amounts of mola panels, molitas (panels smaller

than those that could be used for a blouse), and

mola patches (small circles). Additionally, they

have long sold stuffed animal made with molas,

mola pillows, bags, purses, eyeglass cases, belts,

as well as Christmas stockings and tree ornaments (Tice 1995:104). Nowadays, they also create

towels, tablecloth, kitchen items, and picture frames with mola designs (Campos Candanedo

2002).

The mola cooperative is also concerned with educating its consumers. For example, they

realize that buyers lack the knowledge to judge the quality of molas. Tice tells of how in 1985,

the mola cooperative developed a strategy to revive interest in “„traditional‟ geometric mola

designs” and to sell high-quality, high-cost molas:

“They sewed these designs into mola panels that, because they were „traditional‟ and of

high quality, sold through the cooperative for fifty dollars, more than twice the price of

other mola panels. The „authenticity‟ of these molas, in addition to the quality of

stitching, was used as a main selling point. Tourists and merchants alike were educated

about the history, social context, and meaning of these molas. The cooperative also used

these molas to educate young Kuna women about their own history” (1995:96).

Figure 8. Mola pot holders from Garagesalesally.com.

31

According to Tice, the cooperative has also improved mola producers‟ situation by “(1)

eliminating some of the intermediaries in the marketing chain, thereby increasing prices received

by producers; (2) lowering producers‟ costs for cloth and thread by purchasing them wholesale;

(3) raising mola prices; …and offering women the opportunity to improve the quality of their

handiwork [through workshops]” (1995:114).

Mola Politics and Policy

Tice tells about how in the 1980s when she was conducting research in Panama, mass

produced items with mola designs were being sold in stores:

“Large bath towels and other beachwear featuring mola design were being mass-

produced in El Salvador and sold in high-priced ladies‟ fashion stores in Panama City …

„mola‟ cloth was being produced in Japan and sold in fabric stores by the yard … [a

Taiwanese] firm produced ashtrays, playing cards, and plastic shopping bags featuring

mola designs. These „souvenir‟ items would then be shipped back to Panama for sale to

tourists” (Tice 87). “The women talked to me at length about how angry it made them to

have their mola designs stolen and mass-produced. Adela told me that she had heard

about a law that prohibited the sale of goods competing with handcrafted items made in

Panama and told me that if I could find a copy of this law she personally would visit

Panama‟s vice-president and demand that the law be enforced” (1995:76). “During the

course of my research, I found a copy of the law and the cooperative‟s administrator went

to speak with Panama‟s vice-president as she had promised. Although the vice-president

was sympathetic to her concerns, as far as we know no actions were taken to enforce the

law” (1995: Note 1 chapter 6 p. 204) “In 1984 Kuna legislators, encouraged by the mola

cooperative leaders, worked to pass a law specifically prohibiting the import of mass

produced molas into Panama. The law reads: „Article I. – It is prohibited to import mola

cloth; prints that copy molas; imitations of molas and any other cloth or article that in one

form or another copies or competes with the Kuna handicraft called mola‟ (Law 26 –

October 1984)” (1995:87).

As a response to the threat of plagiarism, the Kuna General Congress prohibits Kuna

women from teaching mola-making to non-Kuna women. Currently, Panamanian law grants

32

collective intellectual property rights to indigenous peoples “for the protection and defense of

their cultural identity and their traditional knowledge” through the Ley 20 del 26 de junio de

20008. The law covers property such as drawings and designs, figures, symbols, dance, music,

traditional art forms, and inventions, among others, through registration at the Dirección General

de Artesanías Nacionales. Fines for failing to adhere to the law are also specified.

Conclusion

Mola making, an essential aspect of Kuna women‟s lives, has been a global art form from

its inception out of imported supplies and likely foreign-adopted sewing techniques. It has been

and continues to be a global art as women who make molas choose to depict not just elements of

their own traditional culture and environment, but also outside and modern elements newly

introduced to their society. Finally, molas as a form of commoditized folk art have become

global through the large market and considerable interest, both popular and academic, it has

aroused in recent decades.

The complexity of the contemporary roles of mola making for Kuna society and Kuna

women cannot be underestimated. On one side, it is a traditional art within the cultural context of

Kuna society, closely tied to their ethnic identity, which has nonetheless emerged relatively

recently and out of foreign elements. On the other side, it is an innovative income source that has

radically changed their interaction with the global market, as well as women‟s economic roles

within their society. Mola commerce helps single mothers, but also entire households, to

8 Retrieved through LEGISPAN at

http://www.asamblea.gob.pa/APPS/LEGISPAN/PDF_NORMAS/2000/2000/2000_517_0603.PDF on November 28th, 2009.

33

confront the modern need for cash in the face of unstable markets, a depressed agriculture, and

the realities of emigration.

Molas continue to become more and more important as symbols of Kuna identity and

sources of income (Salvador 1978:99, 100). In fact, they are becoming the central way of

communication, both cultural and economic, between the Kuna and the outside world, as

outgoing commoditized ethnicity, and also as a process of “Kunification” of outside influences

being absorbed into their culture. The role of mola commercialization in the processes of

economic development and social mainstream-ification taking place within Kuna society (such

as the adjustment to a cash economy and the emergence of nuclear households) is and will

continue to be polemic, as both a cause for and a consequence of change.

Even as we delve into the socioeconomic benefits Kuna women have derived from the

commercialization of molas, it still remains to be seen whether this will have any real effect on

their opportunities for political participation within Kuna society. It is undeniable, however, that

mola making has extended its function for Kuna women from a traditional textile art that allowed

them to wear their ethnic identity, to a powerful tool for economic and collective empowerment.

34

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