Kuna Women and Their Molas

Mola "Perro Muscica" from the collection of Joyce Cheney

St. Louis's Sheldon Art Museum has on exhibit Kuna Mola: Maintaining Tradition Amid Change through May 8th.

"This exhibition, from the collection of Joyce Cheney, features over 60 exquisite examples of molas made by Kuna women in Panama in the latter part of the 20th century."

Detail of a mola

featuring a woman sewing

from the Cheney collection, about 1990

Kuna women who live on the San Blas Islands use reverse applique to stitch panels that they wear on their clothing and sell to tourists.

Traditional dress includes indigo dyed skirts from Europe,

blouses with mola panels stitched to the front and beaded leggings and wrist coverings.

The women wear the family wealth in the form of gold jewelry around their necks. These two show off gold plates. When I visited thirty years ago they wore necklaces of gold coins.

See more about the Kuna, who may be the world's best dressed women, by clicking on these links.
http://molaandco.blogspot.com/  
http://thorup.com/mola.html
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/san_blas_kuna.htm

See more about the exhibit here: http://www.thesheldon.org/galleries_current.asp

I found out about it by checking one of the best blogs for visuals, The Curated Object.
http://www.curatedobject.us/the_curated_object_/exhibitions_st_louis/