Dag van Empathie: Het Levende Object
On Sunday 3 May 2026, Empathy Day 2026 will take place at the International Theatre Amsterdam (ITA) from 12.30 pm to 3.00 pm. Together with artists, speakers and visitors, we will explore the power of empathy. The programme for Empathy Day 2026 consists of powerful discussions, workshops and special encounters. During this afternoon, we will call on everyone to put humanity first in the coming year. This page is about one of the three workshops on offer, called emotion networks.
This workshop is part of the first part of Empathy Day
Workshop 2: Practicing Utopia
The talk ‘Practicing Utopia: Queerness as Counter-Methodology’ is a visual and narrative lecture that connects queer theory with everyday practice. Drawing on thinkers such as Muñoz, Bloch and Butler, and on the experiences of The Patchwork Family, queerness is approached as a method: a way of seeing, creating and collaborating. In this context, fashion emerges as a space for exploring possible futures. The talk demonstrates how queer values permeate aesthetics, collaboration, economics and sustainability. The session is partly participatory and invites the audience to explore their own ideas about queerness and to reflect on how they themselves can practise small forms of utopia.
Meet-up Café: Day of Empathy
Over drinks and snacks, we’ll wrap up the programme with a Meet-up Café. Strike up a conversation (speed-date) with ‘the other’ at the Meet-up Café. What do we have in common, and how do our differences complement each other?
We only realise what we have in common with others once we have got to know one another. This starts with a simple ‘hello’ or an outstretched hand. Leave your preconceptions at home and engage in conversation with an open mind. Our Empathy Conversation Cards will get the conversation going straight away.
Continuation of Empathy Day
In the second part of the programme, following the workshops, we will come together for a plenary discussion on the power of empathy. Where should our empathy be directed now more than ever? Which groups, in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the world, deserve our empathy? How can we use empathy to foster the solidarity that so many people around the world are currently seeking? We will be holding this discussion together with Sinan Çankaya, Hannah Prins, Jerry Afriyie, Frida Boeke and you.
The Amsterdam 4 and 5 May Committee and the Day of Empathy will round off the afternoon with updates on this year’s activities surrounding 4 and 5 May. Afterwards, you can visit various events around the city or stay at ITA for additional programmes.
