selune

I feel like such things have been around kind of everywhere but just low-key. I'm from postsoviet space and I used to frequent on forums/social medias where there were also lots of people from role playing subculture (not sexual, just real life RPGs, Tolkien fandom and stuff) and from time to time I read about people organizing gatherings/picnics with the theme of hugging, snuggling etc.

There are also more socially acceptable activities which, basically, come down to the same thing - getting super close with other people physically but without sex: partner dancing, massage, some group games, activities in religious/spiritual groups.

Whatever works for some people.

It is not necessarily a bad idea, it's just one of the ideas.

IIRC Ruskin, a leading art critic in 19th century, argued that art (aka paintings) should be moral and Christian and I'm pretty sure at least a few really clever medieval and ancient guys shared the same notion (albeit their ideas of morality were probably different).

But it's not a universally accepted truth. Just one of possible interpretations I guess.

It would make more sense but then what's the point in arguing about it? It has that capacity, because, well, I feel empathetic towards certain people/groups of people after, say, watching some movies. Case closed.

I feel like the writer wants to explore how effective this could be as a tool for social change since there is a huge discourse going on about it in the context of pop culture (representation in popular media, glorification of certain subjects (war, violence), objectification, etc) but ventures into weird and a little bit difficult to comprehend (at least for me) philosophical space.

As a simple-minded movie lover I agree with that sentiment regarding films. :) But cinema is just one of many artistic forms.

Do St. Peter's Basilica or Rei Kawakubo's clothes generate empathy? Should they even? Those are prominent, largely influential examples in their respective fields (architecture and design of clothes).

Is it even a widespread idea that "art promotes empathy"?

I feel like nowadays we're talking about morality of art mostly when we're talking about mainstream media (representation in popular media etc).

I'm no art critic but I've always thought that generally accepted truth about art is that there is no single concept, idea or purpose behind it. It used to be something along the line of "art is beautiful" but it's not even that now. Anything can be art and art can be anything and it can be perceived in numerous ways.

I haven't finished it yet tbh but I find this piece of writing weird because I really don't see where it's coming from.

Just... let people enjoy things their own way. I like taking photos of architecture and I don't like talking to people or immersing myself into culture (I rarely even eat local food because of my diet).

Tourism is a form of entertainment. It doesn't need to be "deep".