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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Mola
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Mola

Artist/Maker (Guna Yala, Panama)
Datenot dated
MediumDyed cotton and thread
DimensionsOverall: 11 × 16 in. (27.9 × 40.6 cm)
ClassificationsCostumes and Accessories
Credit LineGift of Lynne Q. Adams in memory of Candice Barrs
Terms
    Object number2009.25.4
    DescriptionTraditionally, Guna women use their dreams as inspiration for designs but they can also find inspiration from the environment around them. This mola depicts a gandule (flute man) playing his instrument. He is surrounded by iguanas and children as he plays. The Guna have a wide range of musical instruments including the rattle, panpipe, and flute but no drums or string instruments. There are no central guidelines for music making and music composition is learned experimentally. This piece incorporates several symbols, colors, and techniques that are customary to mola making. Red signifies blood, and the geometric figures and animals represent transformation. In Guna mythology a human has the ability to transform into an animal, a concept frequently illustrated in molas, which often contain anthropomorphic figures.
    On View
    Not on view
    Collections
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Guna people
    late 1940s-mid 1950s
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Rattle
    Central Highlands/Atlantic Watershed
    ca. 1-800
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Guna people
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Eladia Herman
    ca. 2013
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Eladia Herman
    ca. 2013
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Guna people
    ca. 1950
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Guna people
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Ocarina
    Costa Rica
    ca. 1000-1550
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    The Contest of Apollo and Marsyas or Pan
    ca. 1545
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Guna people
    after 1950
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Amaris Velásquez
    ca. 2013
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Mola
    Guna people
    ca. 1950
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