Panama Mug

 

Today's mug - well, it's more like a tankard today - comes from Panama and our time there in the early nineties. The design imitates a classic mola design, 'molas' being pictures created using a form of reverse applique by one of the Pamamanian inbdigeneous groups, the Kuna. They are usually extremely colourful, and depict a wide range of subject matter.

The one on the mug is both muted and abstract but, for me, still a reminder of the colour and vibrancy of Panama. It reminds me, too, of the value of art and craft, and how that can speak to us. I have often had on my study wall a mola fish, a reminder of how that is such a significant symbol, and a mola butterfly, which always speaks to me of new and transformed life. And that is so what our faith is about.