Aussie expat Sharon Howard-Butler’s ‘Hearing Voices of Support’ initiative turns up the volume for Schizophrenia Awareness Week in New York

Aussie expat creative Sharon Howard-Butler and her US creative partner Brit Till from The Bloc New York opened their Hearing Voices of Support interactive art installation this week at Tribeca gallery One Art Space for non-profit client Schizophrenia and Related Disorders Alliance of America (SARDAA).

It was produced and directed by expat Aussie Ian Fowler, formerly of @radical.media Sydney, with sound design by Aussie composer Rafael May.

The Hearing Voices of Support initiative was launched in October last year with a social platform housing 18 mini documentaries. This was followed by a Times Square billboard. Then a flash mob in Times Square to bring attention to the cause and celebrate Congress’s passage of the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act.

The installation opened on May 16 and ran during Schizophrenia Awareness Week. It puts people with schizophrenia-related disorders in the spotlight, with visitors activating lights, sound and video projections as they walk through the gallery. Up to eight voices are heard at any one time while images of the people speaking are projected onto the walls. It is reminiscent of auditory hallucinations but with a twist–the voices are positive, helping to reshape how people think about this condition.

For more photos and responses from people who have been through the installation visit facebook.com/hearingvoicesofsupport

Creative Directors: Sharon Howard-Butler and Brit Till

Client: Linda Stalters – CEO of SARDAA