Keynote talk on Tinnitus’ Silences at Brazil conference

OU Music academic Marie Thompson gives a keynote talk on tinnitus’ silences at the 4th International Conference on Sonorities Research (CIPS) at the Federal University of Espirito Santo, Brazil

In June 2025, I had the honour of sharing some of my research on tinnitus, auditory culture and the arts as a Keynote speaker at the the IV International Conference on Sonorities Research (CIPS). Held at the Federal University of Espírito Santo in Vitoria, Brazil, the conference theme was Silêncios (‘Silences’) and featured music and audio-visual performances, art installations, talks and presentations. 

Drawing on materials generated by a series of creative workshops held as part of the AHRC project Tinnitus, Auditory Knowledge and the Arts, my talk mapped out the multiple and sometimes contradictory meanings that silence holds in relation to tinnitus. I argued that tinnitus appears as that which is silent (in the sense it is imperceptible to others) and silenced (in the sense it is rarely acknowledged or discussed). Tinnitus is also imagined as ‘silencing’ silence, while those with tinnitus can experience silence as a form of amplification, making tinnitus more noticeable. I concluded that there is a need to take seriously the ways that auditory differences can shape the ways that we encounter, value and think about sonic experiences, phenomena and environments.

The conference was an important learning experience for me, allowing me to find out more about exciting sound and music scholarship that is being undertaken in South and Central America, which, due to issues of translation and circulation, is often difficult to follow from the UK.

Other work related to the AHRC project is continuing: a creative toolkit, developed and trialled in collaboration with tinnitus support groups from across the UK, will be made freely available from February 2026.