Myassa Kraitt
The Last Feminist
While patriarchy and machismo have existed and expanded long before women’s liberation, the Eurocentric chronicle of feminism does not begin before the 18th century. Where are the stories of those who rebelled earlier than that; those who were excluded from the first women’s lib movement? In The Last Feminist, dystopian spoilsports, strangers and rapping killjoys write their own genesis to account for the history of feminism that haunts the present. The performers shed light on the interior conflicts of feminist movements in a dystopian fashion while searching for open doors of collective liberation.
Looking for the first feminists, the story begins in an unknown, dystopian city. The last feminist who hasn’t lost her ideological convictions tries to find her vanished fellows. In a time when the idea of the world and the planet ending is real and the new strength of anti-feminism lends modern patriarchy new glamour, a bunch of hard-core princesses, queer crypto-feminists, emotional bitches and post-dramatic witches ride from wave to wave and read feminism against the fucking grain, shouting out to those voices within the feminist struggle that are otherwise absent. The Last Feminist creates a battle-rap score allowing for a poetic bond among many. Examining themes like radical kinship and a loss of unity allows glimpses into the life of staunch feminists. Who were the first? Who owns feminism today? In an episode structure and four chapters, the performers and musicians look for the revolutionary potential of resistance in the failure of their own movement. They redefine and renegotiate feminism from the perspective of queer-feminist underdogs, realising that those who are missing will give us the clues to where patriarchy takes hold and rules, so we will finally understand feminist history.
Myassa Kraitt is a performance artist, rapper, director and social anthropologist. Her work deals with direct and indirect forms of violence, including epistemicides, colonialism, patriarchy and necropolitics as well as anti-discriminatory artistic practices. In her multi-disciplinary, performative rap act called KDM – Königin der Macht, she combines the genres of rap music and performance to open queer-feminist and anti-/de-colonial debates and lectures on stages for music. She currently heads the digital stage GL!TCH4 at DSCHUNGEL WIEN – Theaterhaus für junges Publikum and works on a series entitled Epistemic Rupture at intersections between art and science. Kraitt is also a board director WIENWOCHE – Festival for Art and Activism.
Gloria Amesbauer is a composer of electronic music, musician, producer, singer and bass player. Their most important media and sources of inspiration include body, bicycle and voice. A key part of their current work is dedicated to polyphonies and challenging the basic concept of the choir. From 2009 to 2014, they studied jazz and popular song in Vienna, in 2017 and 2018 they finished their bachelor’s degree in computer music at the IEM in Graz, and they have been active in various constellations as a composer and musician. Amesbauer heads the experimental noise and pop music act Glam, co-founded Lionoir and argh, performs live with b.fleischmann, Kerosin95 and Eugene Delta, composes scores for stage performances and films, creates mobile sound installations (for example in collaboration with Rad Performance) and is part of the collective Sounds Queer?.
Denise Palmieri is a performance artist, whose work has its roots in visual art. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1986, she has lived and worked in Austria since 2012. The unfolding of body, voice and ritual aspects forms an important part of her artistic creation. She is also a curator for festivals, with a focus on the genre of performance.
Luis Javier Murillo Zuñiga is a performance and drag artist as well as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Originally from Costa Rica, they live in Vienna and focus their work mostly on the themes of migration and theatre.
Iris Omari Ansong is a dancer, performer and dance mediator based in Vienna. Her artistic practice combines themes such as decolonialism, pleasure and vulnerability with dance and movement. Her most recent co-operations include BUNX – dripping in jelly of the black atlantic (WIENWOCHE – Festival for Art and Activism, 2024), Silent Lovers (ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival, 2024) and Im Orbit (tanz.sucht.theater – Tanztheaterkollektiv, 2024).
José Luis Borja Castellano aka Hoesé is a queer artist from Peru, who lives in Vienna. They are a co-founder of the gender-neutral, sustainable fashion brand RUNA that also deals with societal issues. Hoesé models, acts, crochets their own clothes and works with up-and-coming queer artists such as ÆNGL. In 2023, they founded the band GATAFIERA, whose lyrics deal with themes such as gender, sexuality and the trauma of colonialisation.
Queer and trans musician/artist Luí Matias dos Santos has been an active part of the art scene for years. He shared stages with artists such as ÆNGL and At Pavillon before presenting his debut act in April 2024 with GATAFIERA, a Brazilian-Peruvian duo determined to increase queer Latinx visibility in Vienna’s music bubble. In his art, he draws inspiration from the desire to be the representation he would have needed as a child.
Kem Kolleritsch is a musician and performer based in Vienna. With their rap alter ego Kerosin95 and most recently a musical support for an exhibition at Vienna’s Children’s Museum, they have been present on many different stages in the German-speaking area.
Ilay Schwingshandl is an artist and a musician from Vienna. Balancing performance, painting, installation art and writing, they try to create spaces in which vulnerability has a voice. Their practice is informed by a kind of sharing and exchange – especially in collaborations with friends and family.
Yasko Koch does education work on human rights and queer subjects, studies trauma education and sings with Vienna’s femchor (‘Mehrstimmig gegen das Patriarchat’ – fighting patriarchy in many voices).
Credits
Director, concept, idea and lyrics Myassa Kraitt Musical direction and composition Gloria Amesbauer Music production and rap music Oliver Cortez Performers Denise Palmieri, Luis Javier Murillo, Iris Omari Ansong, Myassa Kraitt Musicians Gloria Amesbauer, José Luis Borja Castellano, Luí Matias dos Santos, Kem Kolleritsch, Ilay Schwingshandl, Yasko Koch Inside Eye Dramaturgy Ivana Pilić Costume Heike Bülk Lighting Design Mirza Kebo Stage Design Concept Vi Pham Tùng Production Mika Maruyama Production, Technical Assistance and Rap Coaching Sufian Kraitt Outside Eye Steffo Sourial, Veza Fernández Camera and technical equipment for the stage Hubert Marz Video and visual operation Rawan Almukhtar Animation and logo Xingrui Translation Ivana Pilić, Götz Leineweber, Dilan Şengül Video direction Dilan Şengül Video editing Rawan Almukhtar, Kem Kolleritsch Camera operation Roland Pfisterer Camera operation Assistance Mehrdad Derafshi Video production Assistance on site Markus Hug, Zeynep Alan, Miwa Negoro
A co-production by Rewaq – Verein zur Förderung feministischer und diskriminierungskritischer Kunst und Kultur and brut Wien
With the kind support of the City of Vienna’s Department of Cultural Affairs and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Civil Service and Sport.
Thanks to Studio Mänada, Vereinigung Bildender Künstler*innen Österreich (VBKÖ)
Dates & Tickets
The performance on Fri, October 11 will be followed by an artist talk. Moderation: Sushila Mesquita
The performance on Fri, Ocotber 12, will be followed by a DJ Set by isocialbutterflyy.
This performance contains explicit content, loud music and lighting effects.
October 2024
Sold out
Sold out *Followed by an artist talk (Moderation: Sushila Mesquita)
Sold out *Followed by a DJ-Set.
brut nordwest
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
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brut nordwest
accessible
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
Subway: U1, U2 (Praterstern), U4 (Friedensbrücke), U6 (Dresdnerstraße) Tram: 5 (Nordwestbahnstraße) Bus: 5A (Wasnergasse)
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Zieglergasse 25, 1070 Wien
Subway: U3 (Zieglergasse), Tram: 49 (Westbahnstraße / Zieglergasse)
brut at Exhibit Eschenbachgasse
Eschenbachgasse 11 / Ecke Getreidemarkt, 1010 Vienna
U-Bahn: U4, U1 (Karlsplatz), Tram: 1, 2, D, 71 (Burgring), Bus: 57A (Getreidemarkt)