Browse Items (25 total)

This blouse panel represents the all-important coral reef that used to thrive in the San Blas Islands where the Guna live, but is now endangered. The piece renders coral as an abstract pattern of branching, pointed elements. It aptly communicates the…

The Guna free dive down as far as eighty feet to catch the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus), or rock lobster, shown in the blouse panel. Spiny lobsters resemble "true" lobsters and are edible, except they have very long antennae and only…

Pure whimsy and lighthearted humor characterize some contemporary dulemolaguna, such as this one featuring two dogs wearing sunglasses and perhaps carrying purses. The tropical flower between them and the lozenge-shaped cutouts in the background are…

Dulemolaguna may include overtly political content as well as geometric and natural subject matter, as in the blouse with the Panamanian flag elements at right and the Panama Canal at left. Women have a strong voice in Guna chiefdoms, one reason they…

Like other panels that take on “global” themes but give them definite Guna twists (see examples here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), especially related to Christianity, the very recent example at left juxtaposes tropical flowers and…

Some images of the coral reef may be as illusionistic as this, showing how the same subject has many interpretations by different artists. Gracefully swimming fish, a seahorse, and a hermit crab appear very lifelike. The artist has even foreshortened…

This blouse panel combines the long-practiced technique of cut, folded, and sewn patterning with actual appliqué, the sewing of additional shapes on top. The lozenge shapes are made in the traditional way, cutting through and folding back to reveal…

A more recent blouse panel combines the long-practiced technique of cut, folded, and sewn patterning with actual appliqué, the sewing of additional shapes on top. The lozenge shapes are made in the traditional way, cutting through and folding back to…

Shellfish, fish, and turtles, as seen here, are mainstays of Guna diet and economy. The month of May is known as the "Moon of the Turtle" because that is when the giant leatherback turtles lay their eggs. This special time has been officially…