Collective Dialogue: Manifesting Love Through Art, Empathy and Action
Through a tour of the exhibition Prayer and Transcendence and facilitated dialogue with Elif M. Gokcigdem, participants will embark on a collective journey to explore the nature of empathy and meaning through art, social inquiry and reflection.
We protect what we love. Paying attention to love is essential for us to imagine and create healing solutions to the complex problems of our world. But where is love? How do we tap into it and how do we express it? Through art, meaning-making and empathy, we will explore the capacity of our hearts as a threshold between the unseen and the seen to visibly manifest love in our world through compassionate actions. How we make meaning and how we prioritize our actions and choices vary greatly. This leaves each one of us with a question, a choice and a responsibility: What can I do, within my limited capacity, now?
This event supports the Anatolian Artisans Artisan Earthquake Relief Effort, benefitting artisans who lost their homes, families and workshops in recent earthquakes in Türkiye. Regional food and crafts will be available for purchase during a reception after the tour.
About Elif M. Gokcigdem
Elif M. Gokcigdem is the founding president of Organization of Networks for Empathy and the author of Fostering Empathy Through Museums (2016) and Designing for Empathy (2019). Dr. Gokcigdem’s Designing for Empathy® is a patented framework and an international platform for multidisciplinary, multisector and multicultural collaborations to deepen our understanding of empathy and develop strategies, scholarship and empathy-building experiences that consider the wellbeing of the whole — all of humanity and our planet. In 2018, she curated and co-chaired the world’s first summit on Fostering Universal Ethics and Compassion through Museums with the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, India.
About the Exhibition
In the Muslim faith, carpets create physically and spiritually “clean” spaces during the daily ritual of prayer. Drawn from the collections of five institutions, Prayer and Transcendence introduces the purpose and iconography of classical prayer rugs from across the Islamic world, as well as design comparisons from the Jewish tradition. Learn more about the exhibition
How to Participate
This program is organized by the Organization of Networks for Empathy. Please register with them through Eventbrite to receive links and information to join the program.