Partenaire principal / Main Partner
Le cucitrici: voix des couturières italiennes de Montréal is a public-facing cultural heritage exhibition. It is the first exhibition of its kind in Canada to honour the Italian immigrant women whose hands helped build Montreal’s garment industry. Their hands stitched not only garments, but the very fabric of our heritage.
Over 500 garment factories once operated in Montreal. These women ran them from the inside – and their story has never been told publicly. Until now.
No exhibition in Canada has ever dedicated a full year to honouring this generation of Italian-Canadian women workers.
The last living generation of cucitrici is being recorded now.
“They came from Italy after the war, settled in Montreal, and went to work – in the factories, at home, and for their families – often all at once.” — From the project testimonies
Le Cucitrici — The Seamstresses — are the Italian immigrant women who worked in Montréal’s garment and textile factories in the decades following the Second World War.
The exhibition Le cucitrici: voix des couturières italiennes de Montréal is a powerful and immersive tribute honouring Italian immigrant women who worked in Montréal’s garment manufacturing industry following the Second World War, particularly during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
For many Italian women who arrived in Canada during the major waves of immigration in the 1950s and 1960s, work in the garment manufacturing industry became their first paid employment. Some arrived already skilled in sewing, embroidery or tailoring, having learned these crafts in their hometowns in Italy. Others developed their skills in factories, workshops or at home. For many, earning their own salary brought a new sense of freedom, pride and responsibility, while helping them contribute to the well-being and future of their families.
Despite their vital role in the city’s economic and cultural fabric, their stories have remained largely invisible in public memory.
Conceived and produced by Alliance Donne italian women of Québec, in collaboration with the MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises, and with the essential support of our main partner the Italian-Canadian Community Foundation, as well as the financial support from the Government of Quebec and the City of Montreal under the Montreal Cultural Development Agreement, this major cultural initiative gives long-overdue recognition to stories that have too often been absent from Montréal’s collective memory.
