The symposium, The Slipperiness of Empathy: Navigating through Seas of Representation, (In)Visibility, and Erasure, took place on the 30th and 31st January at the Centre for Research in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Cambridge. The event explored the complex relationships between empathy, visibility, and erasure, with a focus on the intersections of race, borders, and representation. Through a series of interdisciplinary panels, performances, workshops, and a curated exhibition, the event brought together artists and scholars to examine the concept of empathy, its potential, as well as its limitations as a means of perpetuating power dynamics.

The event featured the performance [a house made of water] by Bhanu Kapil and Blue Pieta. Their work offered a powerful opening to the discussions on empathy, embodiment, and violence, engaging attendees in a visceral and emotional experience.

The following day, the symposium continued, beginning with a thought-provoking interdisciplinary panel discussion. Experts from various fields, including critical migration studies, philosophy, and the arts, delved into the complexities of empathy. Taking multi-sensorial, creative practices as a crucial point of departure, the conversation centred on the ‘slipperiness of empathy’ (Hartman, 2018) – both as an ethical imperative and a mechanism of control that often centres the observer while erasing the experiences of those it purports to empathise with.

Through powerful visual representations, the exhibition brought together a diverse selection of creative outputs – from the abstract and sublime to portraiture, documentary, and sound. The artworks invited attendees to critically engage with the witness-spectator-dynamics, the aestheticisation of violence, and themes of presence, absence, (in)visibility, and erasure. These works confronted the viewer with complex ethical questions about how suffering, displacement, and injustice are represented.

The event was a deeply reflective experience and offered a rare space for the continual interrogation of empathy as a concept. Bringing together a range of perspectives from the arts and academia, the discussions raised important questions about the limitations of empathy, the need for more radical forms of action, and whether empathy, as a concept, is still what we need in the face of deep-rooted social and political injustices.

BPA/SWIP guidance

Funding received for the event, including support from the BSA, enabled us to cover travel and accommodation costs for all contributors. The speakers, artists, and performers represented diverse age groups, occupations, and backgrounds. Of the eight contributors, seven were women. The symposium was led by two female PhD students, who prioritised collaboration and inclusivity throughout the planning process. The organisers consulted female speakers early in the planning stages and actively involved them in the conceptualisation of the event. Their insights, perspectives, and vision played a crucial role in shaping the symposium’s themes and structure.

The event was free and open to all, reflecting the organisers’ commitment to accessibility and inclusivity. To ensure a broad and diverse audience, they actively encouraged attendance from individuals outside the university community through targeted promotional materials and partnerships with local charities. This open-access approach helped engage a wider public and enhanced the impact of the discussions.

Link to event webpage: https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/45185/

Co-convened by Caroline Breeden (University of Cambridge) and Marianna Patat (King’s College London)