A Journey to the Soul of Guna Yala
The documentary, A Journey to the Soul of Guna Yala, is about a young University of Miami student, Jessica Figueroa, who makes a return trip to the Guna Yala Islands off the coast of Panama. Her first excursion there was as a member of a student group from the university, who were researching – first hand – the people of these islands, their way of life, and their art. There are 360 islands that make up the Guna Yala community, and in many ways, it is a community struggling to maintain its unique culture, customs, and way of life. Central to this story are the hand-made fabric creations called, molas. Molas began as creative expressions that represented the Guna history and culture. They were sown together as clothing, and that custom still exists today.
But molas are much more than squares of fabric pieced together. They are instead artistic expressions that represent the Guna culture itself, and have been sold to individual collectors and museums around the world. The Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami is one of those recipients. Their collection is important to the museum not just because of the beauty and intricate designs they contain, but because mola art also tells historic stories of the Guna Yala people. Preserving this art form is preserving history. This program is about that. It’s also about the struggle to continue this art form. And in order for that to happen, the Guna people believe they need to resist the commercial encroachment that comes from mainland Panama.
