Arts & International Affairs: Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2018 | Page 47

ARTS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Empathy Film by Guy Gotto (password: aia37)
“The world still thinks India has a functional democracy. I beg to differ.”
Those were the words of Shubham Roy Choudhury in his presentation on empathy, the
theme for today’s discussions. Acknowledging that today marks the 70th anniversary of
Indian independence from British rule, Shubham referred to the lack of empathy in the
current Indian state toward non-Hindu minorities and the presence of lynch mobs in
India to comment on the need to bridge divides.
The political stakes of empathy impelled this group to focus on current political world
events to a greater extent than in previous deliberations.
Douglas Lonie argued that arts practitioners need to extend their emotional responses
beyond the theatre. Ann Henderson punctuated this plea by reminding the Global Cultural
Fellows about the high levels of poverty that exist in Edinburgh, which are easily
cloaked by the consumption and excess of the Edinburgh festivals.
“Empathy is the window that opens the emotional process,” said Ariel Stolier. But at
what point, other Fellows questioned, is empathy overdone? Would an excess of empathy
lead to political impotency in resolving child poverty in Edinburgh? After all, emotional
processes are no substitute for material support to the most underprivileged.
Likewise, Caitlin Nasema Cassidy stated the need to determine whether empathy is a
needed factor for inspiring hope and realising social action. There appeared to be consensus
among the Fellows that the answer is too hard to find definitively, but Devika
Ranjan offered empathy as an ideal to strive for, but one that is not necessary attainable,
suggesting that empathy can never provide a true vicarious experience.
The discussion leaders used the idea of the Open Table to further an intense 90-minute
discussion on empathy in the afternoon. The rectangular table in the middle of the round
room where the deliberations have been taking place acted as a space “a dinner conversation”
space for about 10 fellows to rotate in and out.
Douglas Lonie introduced the Open Table as a “performance” where “there is an end but
no conclusion.”
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