LASTESIS is a feminist collective from Valparaíso, Chile, founded in 2018 by Daffne Valdés Vargas, Sibila Sotomayor, and Paula Cometa Stange. The group engages in artistic and activist practices, combining performance, sound and video arts, poetry and sciences to promote feminist theses and demands. They became widely recognized for their 2019 performance “Un violador en tu camino” (“A Rapist in Your Path”), which emerged during the social protests in Chile. The performance critiques systemic patriarchal violence and injustice. It quickly got international attention and was replicated in more than 50 cities around the world, bringing their work to a global audience.
In addition to their street performances, LASTESIS engages in various activities to advance their feminist agenda. They produce publications, including books and manifestos, and conduct educational workshops, performing at festivals, museums, and academic venues worldwide. Their work addresses issues such as LGBTQAI+ rights, reproductive rights, and justice for survivors of sexual violence. LASTESIS aims to challenge patriarchal structures, raise public awareness, and promote cultural change by translating complex feminist theories into accessible formats from a queer, intersectional, and decolonial perspective. They often collaborate with other activist groups, such as Pussy Riot, to address global issues like police violence. Through their use of art and performance, LASTESIS seeks to disrupt normalized patterns of violence and exclusion, enabling diverse groups to join in solidarity and amplifying their demands on a global scale.
Visual Impact:
LASTESIS’ work is visually striking and effective, combining aesthetics with activism to spread their protest messages powerfully. Their performance “Un violador en tu camino,” acclaimed as a “feminist hymn,” drives global mobilization and empowerment. Through easily replicable protest forms, LASTESIS ensures their demands resonate widely. Their performances feature synchronized choreographies and memorable rhythmic chants, creating a multisensory experience that deeply engages and galvanizes audiences. It has an impressive effect when thousands of people move in sync and chant the same demands.
Their distinctive appearance, marked by colorful clothing and symbols like blindfolds and green scarves, enhances their visual identity. Blindfolds symbolize collective experience and societal blindness to patriarchal oppression, while green scarves represent solidarity with the “legal abortion” movement in Latin America. LASTESIS also uses bold typography projected onto urban surfaces to transform public spaces into platforms for defiance, making their calls for change both visible and compelling in everyday settings.
Text by Luka Ahrens