Department of World Languages & Cultures

Molas Exhibit

The Molas are an artistic tradition of the Cunas in Panama. Cuna women create the Molas by hand using different colored fabrics and are generally created to be used on girls and women’s blouses. The Cuna people study nature in order to explain positive and negative personality traits in humans. The traditional Mola designs generally represent religion, superstition, and Cuna mythology. The designs can also represent animals, plants, and other common objects in the Cuna community. Other Molas could have geometric or abstract shapes. The Molas represent the richness of Latin-American textile art.

This Molas exhibit was created by the students in Spanish 102 sections taught by Professor Eduardo García from the department of World Languages and Culture. The class studied the creation of the Molas and created their own Molas on paper to represent individual qualities. Each student selected an animal based on its symbolism as well as positive and negative attributes. Derived from these elements, the students then created paper Molas. In addition to studying about the creation of Molas, they also studied Panama’s history and the Panama Canal assembly.

Project Participants

Song Yung Turner

Nikki Testroet

Jennifer O'Polka

Greg Beck

Danielle Wolford

Brooke Hartman

Briana Ormsbee

Anthony Greiter

Amber Anderson

Regina Webster

Gregory Blom

Aubyn Bjornsen

Brandon Hansen

Allegra Selzer

Megan Faust

Stacia Kuisle

Kelly Baker

Jamie Gilchrist

Morgan Stone

Renae Kroneman

Acknowledgements

Laura Centeno-Diaz (Translation and Sound Editing)

Marissa Volz (Molas Poster)

Mehmet Sahin (Photographs)

Related Links

Molas on Wikipedia