Molas are intricate cloth designs created by the Kuna people of Panama. The Kuna live mainly on islands off the coast of Panama and have a matriarchal society. A key part of traditional Kuna women's clothing is the mola - two brightly colored and geometrically patterned cloth panels sewn onto a blouse. Molas are created through a process of sewing together cut pieces of fabric in symmetrical patterns and designs that were originally inspired by the body paintings of Kuna women. This document provides instructions for making a paper mola collage through cutting out symmetrical shapes from folded paper to replicate the design process of traditional Kuna molas.

1. Molas
Intricate Designs from the Kuna people of Panama

2. Where are Molas made?
The Kuna people live in all areas of
Panama, but most live on small islands
off the cost of the Kuna Yala, known as
the San Blas Islands.

3. Who are the Kuna People?
The Kuna are animists: They believe that the poni, groups of
malevolent spirits roam the earth entering peoples bodies
causing sickness and disease. The use the nuchus, small
dolls carved out of balsa wood, to protect themselves from
the poni.
The Kuna have the most advanced political system of any
tribal group in Latin America. They have three chiefs who
manage village politics and a series of meetings called
congresos.
The Kuna have a matriarch society- belongings and property
are always handed down from mother to daughter, and
women are seen as very important in the community.

4. What is a Mola?
The mola forms part of the traditional costume of a Kuna
woman, two mola panels being incorporated as front and back
panels in a blouse.
In Dulegaya, the Kuna's native language, "mola" means "shirt"
or "clothing". The mola originated with the tradition of Kuna
women painting their bodies with geometric designs, using
available natural colours; in later years these same designs
were woven in cotton, and later still, sewn using cloth bought
from the European settlers of Panamá.

5. What is Symmetry?
Symmetry: Symmetry is when a shape
is the same if you flip, slide or turn it.
If you put an invisible line through the
center of an object and both sides match,
this is called a line of symmetry.

6. Which Mola is Symmetrical?

7. Which Mola is Symmetrical?

8. Which Mola is Symmetrical?

9. Making a Paper Mola Collage

10. Step 1: Draw your main shape on a piece of paper that is folded in half.

11. Step 2: Cut your shape from the folded piece of paper. Unfold.

12. Step 3: Glue your shape in the center of another piece of paper.

13. Step 4: Cut around the shape leaving a “halo” of the new color.

14. Step 5: Glue this shape onto the center of another piece of paper.
Cut out shapes from your scraps of folded paper to fill the background.

15. Step 6: Glue shapes, in a symmetrical placement, to the background!

16. Step 7: Trace shapes inside of your first piece of paper
onto another piece of paper folded in half.

17. Step 8: Cut out these shapes and add them to your Mola!

18. Step 9: Use your scrap pieces to add more details.
(Keep each piece of paper folded in half to make two copies! )