This is a timely event. 50 years after the Chilean coup that ushered forth a violent 17-year dictatorship and 5 years after Chile’s widespread democratic protests, known as the estallido social, they will discuss the importance of understanding history for the present and why feminist theory and resistance matters more than ever. They will also be speaking about their book, Set Fear on Fire: the feminist call that set the Americas ablaze, published earlier this year. What role does art and performance have in politics and how does it shape activism around the world? What relevance does Chile’s history have for contemporary politics and society? How has the conceptualisation of human rights changed over time and what rights should we be concerned about safeguarding today? Join us to find out more and pose your own questions to LASTESIS in an inclusive dialogue.

LOCATION: Mappin Hall, Mappin Building, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD

WHEN: Thursday 16th November, 17:30-19:00, followed by a drinks reception.

This event is hosted by the Department of History, University of Sheffield and supported by Gender & History. If you have questions about the event please contact Molly Avery: m.avery@sheffield.ac.uk.

More about our speakers, chair and interpreter:

Colectivo LASTESIS is an artistic, interdisciplinary and feminist collective from Valparaíso, Chile, featuring Daffne Valdés Vargas, Paula Cometa Stange and Sibila Sotomayor Van Rysseghem. The collective is dedicated to spreading feminist theses and demands through performance and video performance, combining performing, sound, graphic and textile arts with history, philosophy and social sciences. Their performances include: Patriarchy and Capital is a Criminal Alliance (2018); the rapist is you (2020); RESISTANCE or the vindication of a collective right (2021), The city of the future alongside Delight Lab (2022), Songs for cooking (2023) and the street intervention a rapist in your path (2019), replicated in more than 50 countries. In addition to their stage work, they have published several books, including Polifonías Feministas (Random House, 2022), Antología Feminista (Debate, 2021); Quemar el miedo (Planeta, 2021) translated into German (S. Fisher, 2021), Italian (Capovolte, 2022) and English (Verso, 2023) and About wild Capitalism & its patriarchal Performance in our lives (at Why Theatre? Golden Book, NTGent, 2020), among others.

Paula Cometa Stange is a designer and teacher with degrees in design, history and social sciences from the Universidad de Valparaíso and a diploma in Art Theory from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The artistic and thematic development of her works includes human analysis of the observer of the work, allowing a circular story that transits and dialogues between texts, images and other materials, using collage as the main technique.

Sibila Sotomayor Van Rysseghem is a performing artist and lecturer with a degree in Theatre and a specialisation in dramaturgy from Universidad de Valparaíso and a master’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Université Catholique de Louuvain. She currently teaches at Universidad de Valparaíso and is a PhD candidate in Social Sciences at Universidad de Chile.

Daffne Valdes Vargas is a performing artist with a degree in theatre and a specialisation in dramaturgy from Universidad de Valparaíso, and a diploma in children's and young people's literature from Universidad de Santiago. She currently teaches at Universidad de Valparaíso and is assistant editor of the artistic research magazine Panambí.

Molly Avery (chair) is Lecturer in the History of the Americas in the Department of History at the University of Sheffield. She holds a PhD from the LSE and her research addresses the history of anticommunist internationalism and dictatorship in Chile, Argentina, and Central America.

Maria Vasquez-Aguilar (interpreter) arrived as a child refugee from Chile in 1978 and works in Adult Education. An activist and trade unionist, Maria co-founded Chile Solidarity Network and Chile 50 Years UK and is doing a PhD at the University of Sheffield on the activism of the Chilean exiles in the UK post-1973 and its impact on the second generation.