Empathy Museum facts for kids
The Empathy Museum is a special collection of art installations that started in 2015. Its main goal is to help people understand what it's like to be someone else. It does this by sharing stories and encouraging conversations. The museum believes that by showing empathy, we can better understand big world problems like unfairness or disagreements. A weekly podcast called A Mile in My Shoes also began in 2018.
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About the Empathy Museum
The Empathy Museum was created by philosopher Roman Krznaric. It is led by artist Clare Patey.
In May 2018, the Empathy Museum launched its weekly podcast, A Mile in My Shoes. This podcast shares real-life stories from people all around the world.
The Empathy Museum does not have a permanent home. Instead, its projects are temporary art displays that travel to different places internationally. The museum's main offices are located in London, United Kingdom.
Explore Empathy Museum Projects
A Thousand and One Books
A Thousand and One Books is a special library made from books collected from many people. Each book in this "library" was given by someone who loves it. They believe others might enjoy it too. Famous people like Jay Rayner and Ian McKellen have donated books. Visitors can take a book and pass it on to someone else. They do not need to return it.
This project was shown at the London International Festival of Theatre in 2016. It also appeared at the Krasnoyarsk Book Culture Fair in 2016.
Human Library
The Human Library is like a regular library. But instead of borrowing a book, you can borrow a person for a chat. These "Living Books" are people who share their life stories. They talk about their experiences with visitors to the museum.
Each Human Library event focuses on a different topic. These themes have included fashion, food, home, and age.
The Human Library has been presented in London at SOAS (2015). It was also at Whitechapel Gallery (2015) and the London International Festival of Theatre (2016). In Perth, Western Australia, it was part of the Perth Writers Festival (2016).
A Mile in My Shoes
A Mile in My Shoes is a traveling "shoe shop." It has over 350 pairs of shoes and audio stories. These stories were collected by the Empathy Museum. Visitors can swap their own shoes for a pair from the museum's collection. While walking in the new shoes, they listen to a story. The story is about the life of the person who owns those shoes.
At each new location, the museum gathers more stories and shoes from local people. Sometimes, the project focuses on specific themes. For example, it has collected stories from migrants in England. This was done with London's Migration Museum in 2018. Other themes include stories from UK health workers (2018) and refugees (2019). There are also stories from young people in Scotland (2019). Some stories connect to water (2020). Stories have been collected in many languages. These include English, French, Italian, and German.
A Mile in My Shoes has traveled widely. It has been shown across England and in other countries. These include Belgium (2017), Australia (2017, 2019), and the USA (2018). It also visited Latvia (2020), Slovenia (2020), and Germany (2021).
From Where I'm Standing
From Where I'm Standing shows what life was like in London in 2020. It uses outdoor photos and audio stories. The project celebrates 34 amazing people. They include a midwife, a supermarket worker, and an undertaker. This display has been shown in London. You could see it at Sceaux Gardens Estate, Peckham, and Dalberg Road, Brixton.
