THE world’s first major exhibition on hearing voices is taking place in Durham this week.

Hearing Voices: suffering, inspiration and the everyday is the first exhibition of its kind to examine this experience from different cultural, clinical, historical, literary and spiritual perspectives.

Rachel Waddingham, Chair of Intervoice, the International Hearing Voices Network, said: “Whilst hearing voices is a relatively common human experience, many voice-hearers live their lives feeling afraid to speak out in case they are discriminated against.

“This exhibition invites us to step beyond the stereotypes and explore the multi-faceted experience of voice-hearing.”

Dr Angela Woods Co-director of Hearing the Voice at Durham University, said: “This exhibition sheds new light on a much maligned and commonly misunderstood experience.

“Many people immediately link voice-hearing with particular forms of distress or psychiatric diagnoses, but this exhibition shows that there are many different types of voices rich with personal, cultural, religious and historical significance.”

The free exhibition, which is funded by the Wellcome Trust, includes material from seven centuries, including rare manuscripts, devotional objects, art installations and interactive displays.

It opens at Palace Green Library on Saturday, November 5 and runs until February 26.

It will be open Tuesday-Sunday, 10am-5pm, and Monday 12pm-5pm.