Festival of Friendship 2026

In our ever-atomized world and society today, we are starved for belonging. “Third spaces” are increasingly disappearing, where a subscription or transaction appears to be the bar for entry into a community. Our attention is bought, sold, and trafficked, leaving us feeling empty and lonely, with life often perceived as flattened, two-dimensional, and anemic.

The New York Encounter 2026 “Where Everything is Waiting for You,” struck us with stories of yearning for home and places of belonging, where people have found the generating love of a fulfilling Prescence and a welcoming companionship. We saw that belonging involves a Prescence, someone who emerges among others, a companionship in which we are embraced, listened to, forgiven, and loved as we are, a place where we are truly seen and heard and where we learn to truly see and hear.

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

- e.e. cummings

We want to better understand the necessary characteristics of “thick”, not fragile, belonging where with our hearts we see and are seen, hear and are heard. In other words, we want to understand tenderness. In the words of Pope Francis:

“Tenderness… is the love that comes close and becomes real. It is a movement that starts from our heart and reaches the eyes, the ears, and the hands… to use our eyes to see the other, [and] our ears to hear the other…”

Through fascinating conversations, exhibits, and performances come explore our theme with us on September 18th-20th, 2026.