Mike and I were recently  in Panama city for the first time – it won’t be the last.   We endured humidty and heat and enjoyed wonderful sights and sounds, lots of colour in street markets and the fish market for example, and of course we visited and stood awed at the Panama Canal.  We especially enjoyed wandering in the fabulous old part of the city, the Casca Antigua, where decay had almost defeated the buildings some of which are 500 years old – but it didn’t quite win, because the old part of the city was declared a World Heritage site, and these days there’s masses of preservation and reconstruction going on there.  Every second person wears a hard hat, neon vest and steel toed boots.  They’re working hard, and fast.

In the markets everywhere are stalls selling handicrafts, the most popular and desirable imho being molas, as pictured above.  For decades I have been intrigued by these textiles, and after a lot of looking I bought two  two gorgeous, vibrant coloured pieces of finely handworked reverse  applique, a technique practiced by the Kuna Indians of  NW Colombia and Panama’s  San Blas Is.  I have a book on their history with lots of pics, somwhere in the library back in Perth, but not not close to hand.  However there are many links on the internet – I liked the site Molas: the Craftsmanship of the Kuna Indians     Make a cup of tea then google ‘molas’, and scrolling down you’ll find a site of images – goodness knows how many –  total eye candy, don’t foget to drink and enjoy your tea.

Traditionally patterns were built around shapes of natural objects and geometric patterns – very tatoo-like and some non-pictorial ones strike some eimilarity with the designs of some Australian Aborigines.  Over the last 200 years, the traditional patterns have gradually changed to include designs reflecting increasing contact with ‘modern’ civilisation – some late C19 and C20 patterns are built for example around a biplane, or a certain distinctive shaped soft drink bottle from lands to the north.  A fascinating, beautiful traditional embroidery genre,  and I am thrilled to have found these.  There’s a lot of  less well-made of course but priced at the same levels of the well-made, ready to be pushed onto unwary tourists who have no idea about craftsmanship.  I also went for less pushy salesmanship, too!    As I browsed and chose, the word ‘antigua’ was tossed in if the vendor thought that might help me decide on one, but I knew what I wanted and was only interested in buying a well made colourful modern piece or two.   I doubt there are too many genuine antiques around today, and I probably couldn’t afford one anyway.  I’d like to go to the islands and see them being made and used inserted into garments – and as the garment wears out (tropical, humid, inevitable)  they’re removed, washed and re-used in a new garment.  I love everything about these textiles.

Briefly, layers of fabric are cut back to reveal another colour beneath – then the raw edges turned under and finely stitched down.  The process is repeated, often small pieces being added in just parts – until a complex picture of coloured lines and shapes is built up…. and  for this reason it is called ‘reverse applique’ as fabric is removed, not added, to make the design.  You might consider it to be somewhere like opposite to what the tentmakers do in their craft:

What will I do with these molas? Well, certainly admire and fondle them now and then.  I  really don’t think I will use them in tote bags or on yolks of smock type garments – but eventually I will probably mount them on artists canvas stretchers and hang somewhere.  I have another back in Perth from my first ever trip to South America back in 1989 … yes, its time to go and fondle that one again soon, and take the photo I never have taken of it !