This “coctelera,” or cocktail napkin, is a miniature tourist-trade object, but it is nevertheless a good example of traditional Maya woven and embroidered textiles. This small panel of cloth was likely woven on a typical Maya backstrap loom, with a tapestry weave of stripes in yellow, black, red, and white thread; combinations of the thread colors create … [Read more...] about Hand-Woven and Embroidered Maya Textiles by Bao Nguyen
The colorful textiles featured in this exhibit are known as molas, which are artworks designed and produced by female artists of the Guna culture (also known as the Cuna or Kuna culture) of Panama. A mola is a rectangular panel of cloth that is decorated using a reverse appliqué technique: Two to six layers of different-colored fabric are stacked one on top of the … [Read more...] about 20th-century Guna Culture Molas from Panama by: Kylei Giles, Brianna Shatto, and Melissa Payte