With ‘holes’ currently on my mind, I’m collecting images on Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com/alisonschwabe1/holes/  I thought I’d share these lovely pre-Columbian objects we saw in Colombian museums, with patterns created using holes.  Most of them are from the Museo de Oro in Bogota, so breathtaking that we went back the next day!   The pot was from a museum featuring hand crafted pre-Columbian objects stretching back into the mists of early human settlement in the region.

When we walked into the foyer of this hotel, way, way above the class of hotel where we usually stay – a one night treat – I took a deep breath when I saw this fabulous hanging, wondering if it was El Anatsui’s work – and though it probably isn’t,…  Update – why did I not come back and update the information? At some later date I did learn this artist was Olga Amaral Colombia’s famous fibre artist, see images are online 

And there was no excuse for there being no accreditation on the wall near it, and no excuse for none of the staff around being able to tell me it, either!

These squares of whatever are less than 1″,  or say 2cm square, and joined by fibre or stitching,  but there seem to be 2 styles of joining, which give different texture areas.  The detail directly above, which I was able to see without handling it, suggests the ties go between two layers, suggestive of some of Kathy Loomis’ and Wen Redmond’s joined segmented works, but other parts seem to be linked with a metal piece, giving a more solid appearance.  Thought provoking anyway.

Update – in what I have read since discovering her work, her abstract designs carry deep emotional ties to her country’s history, geography and culture.

Inspiration is everywhere – this is a section of a Kuba cloth on display in a history museum in Medellin, Colombia, celebrating the fusion of African culture in with the native pre-Colombian Indian culture which of course were brought in contact with each other by the third, overwhelming influence, the colonial Spanish.  The Slave Trade C16-C19 was the mechanism by which this came about.  Everywhere we went in Colombia there was a stong pride in diversity and colour from the mixing of the races.  Colour was everywhere, and not only of the people but rich vibrant colour surrounded everyone and everything.  As soon as I saw these triangles with large stitches, I thought ‘fuse and stitch’ !!   I wish I’d taken a clearer pic,  but as an aide memoire, it’s perfect.  You can learn more about the makers, origins, uses and designs of Kuba cloth here  and find masses of superb images here    I’m a fan, and would love a piece – however I don’t think  they have ever been cheap; and I expect that with the primary source being male craftsmen in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo, that few of them currently have much time to spend on this ancient craft.

While we were in Panama last year, I found the famous molas and blogged about them here, but we found at that time it wasn’t possible to go to the San Blas islands on a day trip; but we knew we’d be passing through Panama again and I vowed we’d go and stay overnight, as we did just a couple of weeks ago.  There are 400+ islands in the group, and I don’t know how big a piece of land has to be to be counted, but only 49 of them are inhabited.  On one little island (about 3m x 2m)  we saw one small palm tree with a little scrubby vegetation in amongst the rocks; whether coming into or going from existence, in its splendid simple way this brave little one-tree islet reminded me of the one-tree vistas you can see in road or rail transit across Australia’s bare Nullabor Plain.

We landed at Achutupu airport just after sunrise after about 1 hour’s flying ENE from Panama City – the facilities were basic but all there –

and before long we were loaded into a motor boat and bumping through the waves to our lodge on a nearby island.  It was a small hotel, but again, everything was there, with a small admin building, kitchen and dining room, several sheds and just 7 units built out over the water to accommodate 14-20 guests (the number of chairs in the dining room.)

Electricity for refrigeration and hot water heating was generated for only a few hours at night, so of course no TV and no phones.  We charged cameras at night, slept under mosquito nets, and were happy we had kindles with us – the first night we were the only ones there.   Otherwise, lighting was from solar fed battery panels.  So it was very quiet, and allowed the constant sound of the sea to roll on uninterrupted.

Once we were checked in, had had a look around the island and neen fed with breakfast, all of which was ccomplished in about an hour, we boarded a boat again and travelled about 20 minutes to the island of Achutupu, home to about 1500 Kina inhabitants.  No outsiders.  Since we were the only two visitors our guide was showing around we felt we got a good look at village life, being able to ask questions we had in mind. He was able to explain a lot of the customs and culture to us that might have been skipped through in a noisier larger group of tourists.  We observed Josep’s request to not photograph inside people’s homes (!)  but otherwise were allowed to photograph anything we saw.

I watched a mother cutting the family’s hair out the front of their home, and thought that would make an interesting picture – but asked before snapping and was told I could if I paid $1 per person (there were 4 people) so committed the scene to personal memory, and moved on.

And I bought this mola, too, after the maker agreed to demonstrate how she sews her work.  It’s all by hand of course, and I knew that, what many of us would know as needle-turned applique – each new edge being turned under every few stitches.  She was good and fast, making very small stitches.  The mola features cats, commonly found in designs of both modern and pre-Colombian art – we  presume mountain cats, over on the mainland, since there were very few domestic dogs or cats around.  Notice this lady’s top – a commercially printed fabric in her blouse which at the front includes the inserted mola panel – which interestingly ‘goes’ colourwise – they often don’t ‘go’ in our sense, not that it matters. There are lots of great pics of Indian clothes at this site and in addition to the blouses with mola inserts, they include a printed wrap skirt and for the married women only, arm and leg beads strung and arranged forming a pattern – once on they last about 2 months they told me, then they put on fresh ones.  They said  wearing them didn’t  restrict circulation, but a couple of times I noticed women sitting and the beads looked a bit tight to me – still, I guess you’d get used to it. Unmarried female kids wear the kind of thing that our own kids wear, only donning the traditional gear for daily wear once they marry.  Gold nose rings also signify married status.

At our lodge this display of molas was brought out each day, and on day 2 we did find a couple more we loved … and enjoyed a lot of talk with these lovely gentle mannered women.  Note the bands of beads on forearms and around lower legs.  In addition we enjoyed beach walking swimming snorkeling and just lolling in a hammock under the palms, suspended over creamy white sand.  Divinely refreshing for a couple of days, before moving on to several stops in Colombia.  A whole different story.