From Part to Whole: Developing an Appreciation of Kuna Molas as Collectibles

Marks, Diana

doi:10.1080/14759756.2015.1045196

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…However, molakana were chosen for several reasons by the instructor after several visits to the museum, extensive readings, and conversations with the curator. First, the mola s can be seen as “cultural repositories of meaning” (Marks 2015:155) for the Kuna. Although some of their meanings may not be clear to non-Kuna people (and indeed, some meanings are only legible to some people, e.g., chiefs within the community), the designs may be indicative of cosmology, whereas others contain brand names or political messages, and many relate to the local environment, including the natural world and daily life (Marks 2015).…”

Section: Applying Theoretical and Conceptual Information Via Object Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, the mola s can be seen as “cultural repositories of meaning” (Marks 2015:155) for the Kuna. Although some of their meanings may not be clear to non-Kuna people (and indeed, some meanings are only legible to some people, e.g., chiefs within the community), the designs may be indicative of cosmology, whereas others contain brand names or political messages, and many relate to the local environment, including the natural world and daily life (Marks 2015). Second, the blouses highlight women’s work, gender, and family dynamics, including the intergenerational transmission of the craft, centering often marginalized experiences in discussions of development.…”

Section: Applying Theoretical and Conceptual Information Via Object Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That is, this was a contained approach and allowed an in-depth dive into molakana. Fourth, the status of molakana as a central income-generating craft for Kuna women since the 1960s (Marks 2015) allows for discussions of trade, tourism, Western influence, and economic development in ways that allow students to critically engage with and consider different understandings of international development. We supplemented analysis of the molakana with historical photographs of Kuna life to contextualize life in the Kuna Yala.…”

Section: Applying Theoretical and Conceptual Information Via Object Amentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Teaching International Development Locally: Using Museum Collections to Ground Students’ Learning

Noy

Hancock

2020

Teach Sociol

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Sociologists consistently try to activate students’ sociological imagination even as they focus on teaching substantive and methodological information and skills. Teaching international development and other global topics pose particular challenges for engaging students actively in the local context while teaching about global and macro processes and outcomes. In this article, we connect international development and object-based learning at a university museum to describe a semester-long project of object analysis of Kuna textiles, the mola, in a topical seminar course on the sociology of international development. We detail how the approach can be adapted to local and online museum collections. Using student reflections, open-ended questionnaires, discussions, and student projects and analyses, we demonstrate how this active learning approach can provide important grounding and skills for a sociological approach to international development.

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Section: Applying Theoretical and Conceptual Information Via Object Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Applying Theoretical and Conceptual Information Via Object Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Applying Theoretical and Conceptual Information Via Object Amentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Teaching International Development Locally: Using Museum Collections to Ground Students’ Learning

Noy

Hancock

2020

Teach Sociol

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The Mola and Politics, Part II: Kuna Women Take A Stand

Marks

2016

Dress

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Diana Marks completed her doctorate on the development of the Kuna Indian mola blouse, using an interdisciplinary approach, which included the examination of molas in museum and private collections, and archival photographs. Her current research includes studying the iconography on molas. Her first article in Dress (40, no. 1), covered the period 1900-1950, and looked at how Kuna men defended the right of Kuna women to wear the mola and the political ramifications of attempts to prohibit it. This second article provides examples of molas commencing from the 1950s, when molas directly referencing political parties and candidates began to appear.Mola blouses, sewn and worn by Kuna Indian women living in Panama, display iconography from many sources and are subject to fashion trends. This study examines molas with iconography related to local, national, and international politics dating to the 1950s and 1960s that are found in museum and private collections. These mola designs suggest the wide political concerns of Kuna women from the time of universal suffrage in Panama, exercised from the 1948 election, until the early years of the military dictatorship that began in 1968. The motivation of Kuna women is explored in terms of their changing roles in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and the political involvement of the Kuna people in Panamanian national politics. The purposeful promotion of political and social issues displayed on dress may be considered a direct form of activism.

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The Knitted Fabric of Finland: Contemporary Handcrafted Wooly Socks Depicting the Nation State

Kouhia¹

2019

TEXTILE

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From Part to Whole: Developing an Appreciation of Kuna Molas as Collectibles

Cited by 4 publications

References 21 publications

Teaching International Development Locally: Using Museum Collections to Ground Students’ Learning

Teaching International Development Locally: Using Museum Collections to Ground Students’ Learning

The Mola and Politics, Part II: Kuna Women Take A Stand

The Knitted Fabric of Finland: Contemporary Handcrafted Wooly Socks Depicting the Nation State

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