WELCOME

Welcome to the online version of Hearing Voices: suffering, inspiration and the everyday, the world’s first exhibition to explore voice-hearing from personal, scientific, cultural, literary and theological perspectives.  

Our exhibition was the result of a collaboration between Durham University’s Palace Green Library and Hearing the Voice – a large interdisciplinary study of voice-hearing funded by the Wellcome Trust. It was produced in close partnership with voice-hearers, their families and allies, who were involved in the project as contributing artists, co-curators and advisors.

This website contains images of the key displays, podcasts, interactive presentations and useful resources for anyone with an interest in hearing voices and other unusual experiences. 

You can join in the conversation around the exhibition on social media with the hashtag #HearingVoicesDU.

ABOUT

Hearing a voice in the absence of any speaker is one of the most unusual, complex, and mysterious aspects of human experience. Typically regarded as a symptom of severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, voice-hearing is increasingly recognized as an important part of many people’s lives and experience, as well as a phenomenon that has had profound significance, not only for individuals, but across communities, cultures, and history.

From the revelatory and inspirational voices of medieval mystics to those of imaginary friends in childhood, and from the inner voices of writers as they craft their characters to the stories of people from the international Hearing Voices Movement, the exhibition explores the complexity and diversity of the experience and interpretation of voice-hearing.

This exhibition draws on the work of Hearing the Voice, a large interdisciplinary study of voice-hearing based at Durham University and funded by the Wellcome Trust.

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