🗓️ 22 SEPT – 2 NOV 2023

📍 ATLANTIC ROAD, BRIXTON

⏱️ 11–5PM THURS–SUN

👋 FREE AND OPEN TO ALL

Visit our vision for a transformed town centre in Brixton this autumn! Under the  iconic Atlantic Road arches, find a series of installations and events centred on dialogue, human exchange and community-building. 

For the first time ever, all Empathy Museum’s participatory projects will be gathered under one roof – from longstanding favourites that have been travelling the world for years, to fledgling new ideas making their public debut.  

During the day you can explore a shoe shop, estate agent, library, advice bureau and town square – each re-imagined as a space for human exchange rather than commercial transaction. In the evening, join the Nights at the Round Table: a programme of conversations and workshops with writers, activists, practitioners and community leaders asking how we can live better alongside each other.

Daytime on the high street

A Mile in My Shoes

Visit our shoe shop where visitors are invited to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes – literally. Our roaming exhibit is making a rare stop-off in London to share a diverse collection of shoes and audio stories that explore our shared humanity. From a Syrian refugee to a sex worker, a war veteran to a neurosurgeon, visitors are invited to walk a mile in the shoes of a stranger while listening to their story.

If I Were You

Do you know the best way to survive an apocalypse, how to heal a lovers’ quarrel, or remove that pesky stain?  Tell us! We’re all ears. If I Were You is a place to contribute and receive advice on all sorts of topics – from love and sex to DIY and boredom, from dealing with anxiety or grief, to parenting, cutting hair or poaching an egg. It’s a space to share our collective wisdom about the world, a field guide to living now at a time when we need it most.

A Thousand and One Books

A crowd-sourced travelling library where each book has been donated by someone who loves it and thinks other people might too. Choose from a wall of dedications written by donors, with each book’s author, title and cover hidden until you find something that sounds like your next favourite read.

From Where I’m Standing

Nights at the Round Table

Fri 15 Sept, 7pm 

In conversation: Momtaza Mehri & Caleb Azumah Nelson 

Two of London’s most incisive writers discuss writing from the diaspora, spinning stories that span continents and centuries, and the ambivalent nature of speaking for those who have been left behind. In collaboration with Round Table Books.

Tickets

Wed 20 Sept, 7pm 

Discussing Fire Rush, with author Jacqueline Crooks 

A free-flowing conversation, audience Q&A, and book signing with the author of this astonishing new novel of love, loss, freedom and dub music in 1970s London. In collaboration with Dark Matter and Round Table Books.

Tickets

Fri 22 Sept, 7pm 

Circles: a talking and listening experience for NHS nurses 

Calling any and all NHS nurses, midwives, and health and social care workers! Join our special facilitated talking and listening experience, developed in collaboration with NHS England. Hosted by Dr Esther Murray, Health Psychologist, and Abby Hollick, Audio Producer.

Tickets

Thu 28 Sep, 7pm and Fri 13 Oct, 7pm

Brixton past and present: a Story Exchange with Narrative 4

Do you live or work in Brixton? Join our evening for Brixton residents and regulars from all walks of life to swap stories and see the world through each other’s eyes. Hosted by Ruth Gilligan, author, Professor of Creative Writing, and Narrative 4 facilitator. Please note participants will develop their work over the two sessions so be sure to come to both!

Tickets

Thurs 5 Oct, 7pm 

Dreaming New Futures, with The Advocacy Academy 

A creative and interactive session using everyone’s radical imagination to explore what a better society would look like. What systems would we have? How would we view and value resources? What would our interpersonal relationships be like? Hosted by Vanessa Castro, Shai Tekle, and Hiba Ahmad from The Advocacy Academy. 

Tickets

Wed 18 Oct, 7pm 

Shaming people into change doesn’t work, so what does? 

What are the consequences of shaming people who break laws, rules or expectations?  Research shows that more victims of crime want the perpetrator to ‘not do it again’ than to be punished. What works to achieve this outcome? A discussion about shame, the Criminal Justice System, and the alternatives, hosted by Restorative Engagement expert Charlotte Calkin.

Thurs 26 Oct, 7pm 

Growing Up and Growing Old, with Brixton Umbrella Circle 

Calling LGBTQ+ people of any and all ages! Brixton Umbrella Circle invite you to an intergenerational  discussion about growing up and growing old as an LGBTQ+ person. Hosted by Poppy Waxman and Clare Truscott from Brixton Umbrella Circle, an independent, peer-led self-help group for LGBTQ+ people over 50. 

Tickets

Thurs 2 Nov, 7pm 

A Popular Assembly, chosen by the people! 

A facilitated group conversation where all voices are empowered to speak and be heard equally. The topic? You decide! Submit your suggestions on the wall at Empathy Museum’s pop-up, and the most popular will be tackled in due course… Hosted by Jamie Kelsey, founding member of the world’s first Global Assembly and facilitator of Popular Assemblies across the UK. 

Tickets