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Myanmar

In Aestivation

In Aestivation marks the public culmination of 'Towards Empathy' project: a long-term cultural project initiated by Goethe-Institut Myanmar since 2024 that brings artists, cultural practitioners, researchers, and communities together to explore empathy as a practice of listening, relating, remembering, and creating. Starting from 16 October 2026, a series of 'In Aestivation' events in various formats will be presented across Myanmar, showcasing the findings and diverse approaches to empathy explored by participating artists and focus groups.

In Aestivation © Goethe-Institut Myanmar

What began as Echoes of Expression, a conceptual framework structured around Architectures of Empathy, Listening, Articulation, and Resonance gradually developed into Towards Empathy. Through conversations, interdisciplinary focus groups, curatorial encounters, research, and artistic experimentation, the project moved from a question about empathy toward a practice of empathy.

In Aestivation is presented as a space in which the ideas, questions, relationships, and artistic propositions developed throughout the journey come together. Rather than offering a conclusion, In Aestivation invites us to pause, listen, and encounter the different ways empathy can take form.
 

In Aestivation is presented as a space in which the ideas, questions, relationships, and artistic propositions developed throughout the journey come together. Rather than offering a conclusion, In Aestivation invites us to pause, listen, and encounter the different ways empathy can take form. 

From Echoes of Expression to Towards Empathy

The project began with a simple but urgent premise: in a time of social fragmentation, displacement, isolation, and uncertainty, how can culture create conditions for people to reconnect with themselves, with one another, and with the worlds around them? 

The original concept, Echoes of Expression, proposed four thematic cycles: 
  • Architectures of Empathy 
  • Listening 
  • Articulation(s) 
  • Resonances 

Together, these themes imagined a cultural programme that could create spaces for dialogue, amplify voices that are often unheard, support artistic expression, and explore how cultural practices can build connection across social and geographical distances. 

As the project developed, however, the questions became more complex. Rather than following a predetermined programme, the process allowed the encounters themselves to reshape the project. 
In June 2025, Goethe-Institut Myanmar began a series of conversations across its networks to identify potential collaborators and explore how empathy could be approached from different disciplinary, cultural, and personal perspectives. An open call subsequently broadened the process, leading to the formation of twelve interdisciplinary focus groups by October 2025. 

The resulting project was named Towards Empathy. 
 

The change in name reflects a change in approach. Empathy was no longer treated simply as a theme to be addressed through a cultural programme. It became a direction, a process of moving towards one another through listening, questioning, making, and being present. 

Empathy as Practice


As the discussions developed, the project increasingly moved away from empathy as an abstract concept. 
One of the groups, bringing together architectural and neuroscientific perspectives, questioned practices traditionally developed for communities and instead proposed working with them. This shift recognises that empathy can become burdensome when it is imposed, while collaboration can create more responsive relationships to the needs of communities. 

For another group, empathy emerged through the creation of structures for listening. Their proposal explored how carefully edited and curated personal stories can amplify voices suppressed by larger systems, while creating smaller, parallel structures of care and accountability. 

For others, empathy was embodied through artistic practice. It was experienced spatially, through vulnerability, resilience, interdependence, gentleness, and collective participation. 

In Aestivation © Goethe-Institut Myanmar © Goethe-Institut Myanmar

From Dialogue to Encounter

With the focus-group process completed, the project entered a new stage.

A curatorial team was formed to accompany the emerging projects as they moved from concepts and proposals towards artistic works and public presentations. Two curators from Thailand joined the initiative, bringing experience across disciplines and cultural contexts, as well as longstanding relationships with artists and cultural practitioners from Myanmar.

Somrak Sila and Krai Sridee worked alongside the participating groups, offering critical feedback, facilitating dialogue, and helping the proposals evolve while maintaining the openness and experimental spirit of the process.

The curatorial structure became a bridge between reflection and practice: between conversations and artistic forms, ideas and experiences, individual perspectives and collective encounters.

Curatorial Research Trip in Myanmar

From 18 May to 10 June 2026, the curatorial team travelled through Myanmar to meet participants and co-leads in the places where they live and work.

The journey extended from Yangon to Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin, Inle Lake, Nyaung Shwe, and Taunggyi. Meetings took place in person, online, and in hybrid formats, allowing the curators to engage more closely with the people and contexts behind the proposals. 

The journey shifted the project once again.

It became increasingly clear that empathy could not be understood solely through theory or intellectual discussion. It had to be experienced.

The curatorial process therefore began to place greater emphasis on presence, deep listening, trust, care, and attention to what remains unsaid. 

In situations shaped by displacement, uncertainty, and fear, even the act of asking someone to process or articulate their emotions can become a burden. The project consequently began to ask a different question.