Kuna Collection, [dates unavailable]

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Summary

Title:
The Kuna Collection,
Dates:
[dates unavailable]
Creators:
University of California, Los Angeles. The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Kitnick-Alexander Library
Extent:
type here
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], The Kuna Collection, The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Kitnick-Alexander Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Arrangement:

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

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Aileen Dugan and Teva Kukan; Machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
Date Prepared:
© 2003
Date Encoded:
Machine-readable finding aid derived from database files, imported into MS Access; Date of source: 2001.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Access to the archives collection is by appointment.

Note: the video footage is currently unprocessed and not available to researchers.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], The Kuna Collection, The Fowler Museum at UCLA, Kitnick-Alexander Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
Box 951549
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1549, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4361
fowlerinfo@arts.ucla.edu
Website