Empathy

Empathy
15.4.-18.10.2026

Empathy is an essential part of interaction. It builds community, evokes compassion, and creates a desire to help. Empathy is often defined as the ability to put oneself in another’s position – to understand another’s thoughts and feel their emotions.

The exhibition explores the layered nature of empathy. It examines how an individual recognizes and responds to another’s feelings while expanding the perspective: how empathy intertwines with society, culture, and interspecies relationships.

Can empathy also serve as a tool of power? How is empathy distributed differently among various human groups and species? Why do some people or animals evoke strong empathy in us, while others remain outside it? The exhibition invites reflection on how empathy is directed and on what grounds.

Although empathy is often seen as a solution to social and ecological problems, it can also maintain and reinforce power structures. The exhibition suggests that empathy does not necessarily mean complete understanding; rather, it can be a space where differences, conflicts, and power relations are acknowledged, and encounters occur amid these tensions.

Perspectives on the theme are brought by artists from the Vantaa Art Museum collection and invited artists.

The artists of the exhibition:
Malin Ahlsved, Marjatta Hanhijoki, Kaisu Koski, Anne Koskinen, Mari Mäntynen, Kirsi Neuvonen, Pekka Pitkänen, Lau Rämö, Timo Saarelma, Elsa Salonen, Tommi Toija, Toni R. Toivonen, Aki Turunen.

The artist list will be updated.

The exhibition is supported by the Finnish Heritage Agency with a grant for artists’ exhibition fees.