The fabrics of the Kana culture

From the Guna Yala region, Panama

Fabric panel with a flower and parrots (Around 1980) by Kuna CultureMudec - Museum of Cultures

This four-sided fabric panel features a central floral motif with four parrots and geometric patterns among the petals on a burgundy background.

Fabrics of this kind are produced by the people of the Guna Yala region as traditional women's clothing.

When marketed to tourists, they are used as a wall decoration thanks to their beautiful colours and the unusual technique used to make them.

The traditional technique involves overlapping cotton layers of different colours; the pattern is then obtained by cutting through to the layer of the desired colour.

The different layers are held together by simple stitching and embroidery.

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