Collection Guide
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Table of contents
Title: The Kuna Collection,
Date (inclusive): [dates unavailable]
Collection number: A7
Collector:
University of California, Los Angeles. The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Kitnick-Alexander Library
Extent:
type here
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Kitnick-Alexander Library
Los Angeles, California 90095-1549
Language:
English.
Access to the archives collection is by appointment.
Note: the video footage is currently unprocessed and not available to researchers.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Registrar. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of The Fowler Museum at UCLA as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to
include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Digital Representations Available
Digital representations of selected materials and corresponding objects are available as part of the Container List of the
finding aid.
[Identification of item], The Kuna Collection, The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Kitnick-Alexander Library, University of California,
Los Angeles.
This collection of images is the result of two Museum-funded expeditions to the Kuna Yala archipelago off the coast of Panama
to document the Kuna peoples and the full range of Kuna expressive culture, with a particular focus on
molas as a distinctive genre of art. Although
molas are among the most commonly collected textile arts in the United States, few arts enthusiasts are well informed about the
peoples who create them. For
The Art of Being Kuna: Layers of Meaning among the Kuna of Panama project, curatorial staff worked closely with Kuna consultants to develop a systematic presentation of Kuna expressive culture
and identity, the role of women in Kuna life, and their values and response to change brought on by external contacts during
the past eighty years. The Kuna field collection features 1,500 stills and fifteen hours of video footage of the making of
molas, Congreso meetings, ambient environment, and activities within the home. As life changes rapidly in Kuna Yala, these images
are invaluable records of Kuna secular and sacred occasions of the 1990s.
- Salvador, Mari Lyn, ed. The Art of Being Kuna: Layers of Meaning Among the Kuna of Panama. Los Angeles: The Fowler Museum at UCLA, 1997.
Arranged in the following series:
- Architecture - use for slides depicting specific building techniques or details of buildings. For slides depicting rooms and interiors, use Interior Spaces.
- Boats - use for slides depicting boats
- Congreso - used for slides depicting Congreso meetings and members
- Interior Spaces - slides depicting rooms, whether commercial or domestic.
- Landscapes - used for slides depicting natural environments such as the jungle, ocean, etc. If slide depicts homes in the landscape, use Village.
- Molas - used for slides depicting the design and construction of Molas
- Village - use for slides depicting homes and residential areas
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Cuna art.
Cuna Indians--Clothing.
Textile design.
Cuna Indians--Economic conditions--Congresses.
Cuna Indians--Material culture.
Indians of Central America--Panama.
Molas.
San Blas Coast (Panama)--Social life and customs.
San Blas Islands (Panama)--Social life and customs.