The Kuna woman, from the San Blas Islands in Panama, is known World Wide for her colorful traditional dresses decorated with Molas. Foreigners and nationals acquire these Molas in different places of the country like museums, craftwork stores and fairs. Molas are cultural articles that are made by the Kuna tribe.

Mola Quality

If you are interested in acquiring Molas we suggest you take the following factors into account:

• Number of layers
• Daintiness of the stitch
• Uniformity and width of the patterns
• Details such as borders, openwork or zigzag borders.
• General artistic merit regarding the combination of the design and color.

Design Variety

The Kunas use a complex technique to make the Molas. This technique consists in overlaying layers of cloth sown among each other, along cuts that define patterns where shapes and colors clash resulting in a wonderful rich piece. The Molas have several designs and color clashes, which can be multicolored or two-toned. The motifs captured on the Molas are abstract and represent the forces of nature.

These Molas also represents the cosmogonist thoughts, a way to see the world full of color and the manlike and animal like shapes of this indigenous culture. The eye catching and colorful geometric figures paint mythological scenes, the creation of the world, custom scenes, flora and fauna of the region that the Kuna tribe inhabits.

Some Molas can show signs of use or ware, these imperfections indicate that they have been used as part of the traditional wardrobe of the Kuna woman, this gives it greater authenticity and value since they have not been made only for tourists.

Molas, main source of income for the Kuna tribe

After tourism selling Molas represents the most important source of income for the Kuna tribe. The Kunas also make pottery, tagua nut or vegetable ivory, wood carving, fiber baskets and straw hats have debuted in the North American market. Approximately, two thousand Kuna women spend hours sowing colorful designs, which have gone all the way to Japan.

The Molas are exhibited in fairs and museums around the world. Presently they are promoted through a website on the internet, by which they get many orders. Additionally the Mola businesswomen have developed a new strategy which consists in attaching or inserting Mola designs on every day articles such as towels, tablecloths, kitchen linens, lamp shades, and picture frames among others.

Without a doubt Panama has many places where Molas are sold and exhibited. You can also visit the Kuna Yala Reservation in the San Blas Island to see up close how they make these exotic pieces.

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