A Mile in My Shoes

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird)

In a world full of opinions, compassion is revolutionary. In the shoe box of A Mile in My Shoes, visitors are invited to literally walk in someone else's shoes. You choose a pair and are given headphones with the story of the original owner. As you walk, you hear the story of the person behind the shoes. From a Syrian refugee to a sex worker, from a war veteran to a neurosurgeon, the voices you hear come from all over the world and show you different perspectives. If the shoe fits...

The travelling exhibition is the brainchild of British artist Clare Patey and her Empathy Museum. In 2015, she sought a future in which human interaction was possible again. That quest ultimately resulted in the large shoebox of A Mile in My Shoes, which has now been displayed in 19 countries.

This time, the shoe box from A Mile in My Shoes is on display in Ghent, near S.M.A.K. (Jan Hoetplein).
For this edition, Curieus collaborated with Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen (Flemish Refugee Action) to add a few stories of people who have fled their homes to the growing collection of A Mile in My Shoes.