La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

I am excited to invite friends and visitors to the opening of my brother, Harry Cross’ show of Central and South American Mollas at the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum in the Gaches Mansion this Saturday, 3-5 p.m. My brother collected these Mollas primarily in Bogota, Colombia where his wife is from.

The Mollas became the traditional dress of the Kuna Indians in the early 1900s. Before that, the Kuna painted their bodies until the missionaries made in-roads into the culture and convinced the women to cover their bodies. The women transferred their body painting arts to fabric and then sewed these colorful patches on to their white blouses, usually front and back. They originally came in pairs.

Harry shopped the old stalls in Bogota with his wife’s niece, Leonorcita, who is an anthropologist. She explained that the Kuna were from Panama and northern Colombia, which until 1903 was one country. When the Panama canal was built the powers that be carved a new country and named it Panama.

Please stop by at the opening or until it closes on June 23.

Joan Cross

La Conner