Leonor Murillo

Born in Quibdó, Chocó, she currently lives on the island of San Andrés, where she leads the group EVONI, an ensemble made up of more than 40 children and adolescents whom she trains in traditional Afro and Caribbean music and dance.

Since the 1970s, she has been actively involved in Colombia's Black and Afro-descendant movements, tirelessly promoting Afro-Colombian identity and cultural heritage. From 1961 to 2024, she worked as an arts educator in various public and private institutions on the island.

She also stands out as a luthier of traditional percussion instruments from the archipelago, such as the Horsehawbone and the Tub, contributing to the preservation of the insular Caribbean’s sound memory.

In 2005, she wrote the Afro-Colombian Handbook, an educational manual used to teach the Afro-Colombian Studies course in the archipelago's schools. In 2008, she published the book Who is Who in San Andrés, a collection of short biographies highlighting key figures of Raizal culture. This work inspired La Bata Biográfica, a visibility and recognition initiative that has been celebrated at various national events for its contribution to the memory and collective pride of the Raizal community.

Additionally, she is a singer of traditional funeral and spiritual songs from Colombia’s Pacific coast—alabaos, romances, salves, and chihgualos—and a lead vocalist of La Contundencia, a chirimía ensemble from Chocó, with which she was also part of the research and musical recovery project Kilele, a cultural memory and Afro-Colombian heritage initiative.