Molas and molitas (“little molas”) are elaborate textiles made by the women of the Kuna culture of the San Blas territory, in what is today the country of Panama. The elaborate designs on molas are created primarily using a technique known as reverse appliqué, a painstaking process that involves stitching together several layers of cloth and then cutting designs and outlines … [Read more...] about Molas and Molitas: Researched by Amanda Steimel and Elizabeth Rodwell
This large vessel was created by Reina Simon L. from the village of San Bartolo Coyotepec, using the traditional grey clay of this region that is gathered from the clay mines near the community. While such pottery has been created and used for water vessels, or ollas, for centuries by the Zapotec people of this region, in the 1950s potter Rosa Real Mateo de Nieto started a new … [Read more...] about Zapotec Mestizo Blackware: Researched by Daniel Hume
This group of artworks consists of tourist-trade reproductions inspired by some famous, and some not-as-famous, works of ancient Precolumbian art, including works from the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, Teotihuacano, Mixtec, and West Mexican cultures. The reproductions are generally made by artisans who are indigenous or are of Mestizo (mixed indigenous and Spanish) heritage, often … [Read more...] about Mesoamerican Art in Reproduction: Researched by Leslie Dunaway and Macaylah Gant Hodge
The southern central Mexican state of Oaxaca is the home to the Zapotec and Mixtec, indigenous cultures whose artisans have both preserved ancient traditions and have developed vibrant new artforms. Grey plumbate wares have been known since Precolumbian times, and from this ancient tradition developed a prominent form of art known as barro negro, or Oaxacan black pottery. … [Read more...] about Oaxacan Black Pottery: Researched by Emma Schupbach