The female arts originated historically from complex body paintings, but as the modern world encroached on their way of living, the Kuna adapted, and learned to transfer their body painting arts to fabric, scissors and thread.
The mola style exists nowhere else in the world; and the art form continues to progress towards more originality and more intricate refinement.
I found it unbelievable that the entire female population of a society were all artisans of the same trade - each can sew a mola in amazingly diverse styles.
Somewhere in New York, some editor for some magazine is bitching about some expensive black turtleneck, mass produced in Taiwan.
Panama society sought to convert the Kuna of the 1920's to more Christian-modern ways - black turtlenecks. The rebellion that ensued, largely in reaction to the Panamanian police attempts to control Kuna womens attire, would lead to the arrival of a U.S. warship, and a standoff that almost led to war.
