In 1997, a group from the exiled Chilean community living in Sheffield and Rotherham came together in an effort
to overcome the grief we carried from our traumatic past. We decided to follow the spirit of the ‘Arpilleras’
Group from the 70’s and 80’s in Chile but with a difference, our group is composed of males and females.
Like them, our work expresses our individuality as well as our common experiences.
Our first activity were ‘Las muñecas’ (The Dolls) which were made from discarded materials found in our
homes, jumble sales; which we sold at the first Abbeyfield Park Multicultural Festival in 2001 and we
bought materials to produce the first individual ‘arpilleras’ (patchwork) After completion of these two projects
we venture into ceramic painting, which we sold at the following Multicultural Festival in 2002.
Our first collective work was The Journeys of Our Lives. This ‘patchwork’ represents our common
past and present since the coup, our lives in exile and our hopes. They depict some of the most moving
and harrowing experiences of brutality exerted by some over the majority of the people.
The activities of the group have served us not only to assert our cultural identity but also to provide a
testimony, particularly to our children and our descendant of a country called Chile.
It also shows our existence in this most welcoming society. We participate in many multicultural activities
and festivals, forums, meetings, etc.
Our work has been exhibited in many places and events –with critical acclaim- around the country, e.g. World
In One County Multicultural Festivals and also at a General Meeting of the United Nations in Geneva.
At present, we are working in another collective project, as yet untitled, that intent to depict ‘how our lives
have unfolded since our arrival as refugee in Britain’.
Proyecto comunitario 
