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How are images used to raise concerns? Why do certain images concern us more than others? And when does the image itself become a cause for concern? The conference and exhibition project Agents of Concern: Images and Empathy brings together an international group of artists and scholars to examine the complex ways in which images affect our emotional and cognitive understanding of the experiences and mental states of others. Comprising two exhibitions—one at PXL-MAD Gallery and the other at CCHA—and two conferences, Agents of Concern creates a dialogue between artistic and academic ways of speaking about, with, and to images. Exploring a wide spectrum of visual strategies for evoking empathy, the conference and exhibition contributors address diverse topics including the representation of migration, images of war and political protest, sentimentality in art, contagious images on social media, colonialism, human rights, and the creation of visual evidence. The Exhibition II is focused on photography and other lens-based art it will feature contributions by berte & harmey, Dirk Braeckman, Jeroen Bocken, Tom Callemin, Annelies de Mey, Bieke Depoorter, Geert Goiris, Tine Guns (tbc), Robin Hombrouck, Clarisse M, Vincent Meessen (tbc), Max Pinckers, Lisa Schelkens, Dominique Somers, Lore Stessel, Guus Vandeweerd, Stephan Vanfleteren, Sine Van Menxel, Sybren Vanoverberghe, Chantal Van Rijt, Bram Van Stappen, Joselito Verschaeve, Aline Verstraten and Kristof Vrancken. November 26, 2023 — January 28, 2024 Venue: Cultuurcentrum Hasselt (CCHA), Kunstlaan 5, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium