Etymologically the word Sympatheia refers to syn-, (meaning shared, togetherness)  and pathos, meaning to suffer. This way, the project's name metaphorically stands for the pathos that is shared by all of us and therefore connects each one of us to one another. 

 

Why do we sometimes perceive people as being so distant from us? Why do people on the street appear as strangers to one another who do not care about each other?

 

This project explores the idea that we as human beings share more than we think we do. We are all carrying around the effects of circumstances in our lives that trigger us emotionally in different ways. However, many of us only rarely share these emotions with others. Sometimes we isolate them, keep them inside of us instead of putting them out into the world. We usually don't realize that many of these circumstances are commonly shared by many people around us. Acknowledging this situation and being aware that this "strange person" right next to us on the street might be going through similar circumstances, can make us understand that we share more than we assume. Sympatheia can make us see bridges built of empathy between us, and last but not least, it can inspire us to be more tolerant towards "the other". 

 

The musical and audiovisual pieces intend to evoke some of these emotions and circumstances with the intention of creating awareness, sympathy, and compassion towards the ones that might be experiencing them right next to us.

 

By the time we become aware of how much of what we hold within we share with one another, we can find ourselves within the other and the other within ourselves...By the time we realize how much we all have in common, the Syn can walk hand in hand with the pathos and by that, create a natural connection between us and the ones around us.

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