Threads of Time: Tradition and Change in Indigenous American Textiles

Dulemola (Blouse Panel) with Mother Bird Feeding Chick

L2016_016_023_B_SCR.jpg

Title

Dulemola (Blouse Panel) with Mother Bird Feeding Chick

Description

Guna aesthetic masterfully balances maze-like linear designs with figuration. The image of a mother feeding her baby bird is barely distinguishable from the spiraling black and red forms. However, larger areas of black for the birds' heads and the two bits of white for eyes help the viewer to comprehend the two animals. The left-hand one is smaller and its wings face downward, its feet to the right. Its beak is piercing the open triangular one of the large mother bird, who stands upright. Yet look away from the heads for a moment and you may lose the birds in the exciting tangle of lines and spirals. This is a deliberate technique, perceptually challenging and artistically sophisticated.

Geographic Area

Central America, Guna Yala (San Blas Islands/North Coast of Panamá)

Culture

Guna

Date

20th century

Materials

Cotton

Credit Line

Lent by Sherry Thorup

Accession Number

L2016.16.23

Photo Credit

Photo by Michael McKelvey, 2017

Exhibition Checklist