Preserving

the legacy of the

Bordadoras de Isla Negra

A tribute to the art and memory of a group of women who embroidered a unique way of seeing and telling their story.

The Isla Negra Foundation was created in 1981 with the mission of conserving a special selection of embroideries made between 1969 and 1999, acquired to safeguard the artistic and cultural value of the Bordadoras de Isla Negra (The Embroiderers of Isla Negra).

This collection allows the work of this artistic movement to transcend its time.

The legacy of a community and its memory.

Everything began in the late 1960s in Isla Negra, when Leonor Sobrino and a group of local women transformed embroidery into a unique form of expression. With needles and colored wool, they narrated their surroundings, their inner worlds, and their way of seeing life. Today, the Foundation safeguards that legacy: their works, their history, and the singular gaze they embroidered into every stitch.

Thirty years of textile art narrating an era with a unique perspective.

The collection brings together a selection of embroideries created between 1969 and 1999, curated by Leonor Sobrino, mentor of the group. Each piece captures scenes of daily life, imagination, and the unique vision of a group of women from Isla Negra.

Taking embroidery beyond the territory.

Through national and international exhibitions, we bring these works to new audiences, ensuring that the textile art of the embroiderers continues to be recognized as part of Chile’s cultural heritage.

A shared work and a controversial legacy.

Commissioned as a large mural for the UNCTAD III building by the Chilean government under the Unidad Popular (People’s Unity Government) in 1972, this collective embroidery (Bordado Colectivo) was created in three months by ten embroiderers from Isla Negra, intertwining their voices and visions into a work of great scale and significance. During the dictatorship, the piece disappeared, remaining out of the public eye until its reappearance in 2019. Currently, it is on loan to GAM (Centro Cultural Gabriela Mistral), and the Foundation has accompanied the embroiderers in the recovery of memory, appreciation, and dignity of this emblematic woven testimony.

The story of the artistic movement Bordadoras de Isla Negra.

A project focused on the work and authorship of the embroiderers, realized through a collaborative effort that includes images, documents, research, and personal accounts. A journey to immerse oneself in their history, their craft, and the context that shaped this expression of textile art.