15/01/2026
I had not seen pelicans in the wild until our ship entered the Panama Canal. It was dawn and we lowest deck passengers - young travellers on a budget - had been summonsed to the top deck of the good ship Ellenis to have our papers checked before disembarking at the other end of the Canal. The sun was a pink glow over a silver sea. A flock of pink billed black and white pelicans glided low and silently over the bow - a graphic opening to the first chapter in my book of travels. We were heading overland through Central America on the newly opened Pan American Highway and destined to spend several days in old Panama City obtaining the seven visas not available in NZ!
One day while wandering the old city’s squalid streets I met an American woman on a textile trail - her extraordinary clothing a dead giveaway. We sat in a small cantina drinking strong sweet coffee while she regaled me with stories of what lay ahead and also alerted me to an exhibition by the Kuna, or Guna, Indian women from the San Blas islands off the Panama coast. The following day I walked straight into walls of colour, vibrantly clad bodies and deft hands cutting, layering, stitching … and laughing. And as is the way with art we communicated without words and that’s how I came to own a Mola dedicated to pelicans with fatly filled bills.
Mola, a Kuna word, refers to cloth or traditional clothing that evolved from upper body painting and tattooing - the lower body was clad in a wrap skirt. Early Christian missionaries in the 17th Century insisted that women wear blouses and thus mola became the solution to colonial prudery! But according to Kuna lore, molas were created at the beginning of time by the ancient ancestors and hidden away in ‘Tuipis’ an underworld fortress - the place where all things related to women originated. No men permitted in this sacred space!
Regardless of origins contemporary molas are statements of identity that integrate images from daily life and popular culture. Designs are created using a combination of reverse appliqué, appliqué and stitching for added details. Two or more layers of different bright coloured cotton cloth are hand-sewn loosely together. The motifs are cut through the top layer or layers to reach the base colour. Minute hand stitching attaches each folded cut edge to a lower layer. The results are an exquisite reflection of the artist’s skill and her story.
This piece is available to purchase.
Size: 54 x 40Cm (actual textile unframed)
Currently framed
Circa 1965-68
Mint condition. Colours have not faded.
Please contact me for price and shipping.
