War and conflict have once again become an integral part of our symbolic universe – in journalism as well as in artistic expression. This inevitably raises profound ethical questions about visual representation, especially in an age of social media and its brutal impact. Who can and may represent what? Where are the limits? And who decides?

We will screen the film Looking for Empathy (50 min, English subtitles) by filmmaker Jan Beddegenoodts and theater maker Chokri Ben Chikha, set against the backdrop of Guernica Guernica. The screening will be followed by a conversation in De Foyer.

In 2024, Ben Chikha traveled to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories while preparing his play Persians. Triumph of Empathy. Beddegenoodts joined him and documented the journey – raising pressing questions: Can one have empathy for one’s enemy? And who shows hubris – Netanyahu, Hamas, or perhaps the makers themselves?

The screening will be followed by a conversation in De Foyer with Jan Beddegenoodts, journalist Bruno Beeckman and former director of Médecins Sans Frontières Meinie Nicolai, moderated by Inge Henneman (researcher, Thinking Tools, and lecturer in photography history and current affairs at AP Hogeschool).

This Aan Tafel is curated by Erwin Jans (Toneelhuis) and Pascal Gielen (ARIA, University of Antwerp).