By Highland Park's Fifth Grade Students

Mola by Makena R.

Photo by Dennis Fagan

Mola by Tristan L.

Photo by Dennis Fagan

This year in Art Class we are learning about Molas. Molas are a kind of art that Cuna Indians make in Panama. Molas are made out of cloth and have pretty designs made on them. They are very hard to make because of the careful planning and small details. To make them, you have to have a lot of creativity. There are stories about Molas. Molas are very popular. The Molas have at least two layers of colorful designs. The Molas have lots of patterns and are very abstract. It takes interesting techniques of basic art and practice to make Molas.

HISTORY/INFORMATION:

The original molas were made by Cuna Indian women and were worn as shirts. During a ceremony, the Cuna women put sappi karta sakkan tree sap on their heads because they thought that the God of Creativity who lives in that tree would give them ideas for their molas.

Molas are made by making a real or non real 2-D animal and putting it on other pieces of cloth that are the same shape but bigger,then sewing it together. They have lots of patterns and contrast. They are usually simple shapes.

ORIGIN:

The molas originated on the San Blaas Islands, off the coast of Panama. Now the molas have spread throughout the world. The molas have been made on shirts and other types of clothing.

HOW TO MAKE A MOLA:

1. First decide what animal you want as your main figure. Trace your shape onto colored paper and cut it out. Keep it very simple and abstract.

2. Paste it onto another piece of different colored paper and cut it out leaving a narrow border. Glue it onto another piece of paper and repeat the process. Choose your colors carefully so they look good against each other.

3. Then paste the final shape onto another piece of paper. This is your background.

4. Once you are finished with that, add different colored shapes to make a pattern for decorating your figure. Choose a simple shape like a square or triangle and cut out 20 ofthem small and glue them onto a different colored scrap of paper and cut them out a second time leaving a narrow border of color.

5. Fill in the background with a new pattern or with skinny paralell lines. Maybe a mola style sun or a small animal shape would look good too. Be sure to cut them out twice.

6. The more patterns you use and the more carefully you cut, the better your mola will look.

Molas were created by Amber, Ruth, and Jenny in Fifth Grade.
The text was written by Julian, William, and Joseph.

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