The Cucitrici Project is being developed as a public-facing cultural heritage exhibition with strong community-memory potential. Le Cucitrici is the first exhibition of its kind in Canada to honour the Italian immigrant women whose hands helped build Montreal’s garment industry.
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. Sponsoring this launch places your brand at the heart of an irreplaceable cultural moment.
“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.
They arrived from Italy and became essential to one of Montréal’s most important industries, working factory floors and taking piecework home all while raising families and building communities.
Despite their vital role in the city’s economic and cultural fabric, their stories have remained largely invisible in public memory.
