From silence into song: an art–science collaboration with survivor trees and laryngectomy singers

TL;DR

An art-science project explores how radiation's dual role as destructive and healing can be understood through the experiences of survivor trees and cancer survivors who lost their voices.

Contribution

The study introduces an innovative arts-based participatory approach to explore survivorship and the emotional impacts of radiation through collaborative co-creation.

Findings

Participants found meaning and resilience through engaging with the 'voices' of survivor trees and co-creating art.

The project fostered identity, confidence, and social connection among laryngectomy survivors through shared vocal practices.

Collaborative arts-health approaches show potential to complement healthcare by supporting emotional recovery and relational wellbeing.

Abstract

This paper presents an immersive art–science project that unites nature, voice, and technology to examine the dual role of radiation as both a force for destruction and a means of healing, through the experiences of two survivor communities: Hibakujumoku (trees that survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and individuals who lost their voices to head and neck cancer and rebuilt communication through radiotherapy, surgery, and rehabilitation.

Ten adults, post-laryngectomy, were recruited via Shout at Cancer, a UK charity focused on alaryngeal speech recovery. Over ten weeks, they attended six workshops combining group singing, creative writing, and reflective dialogue. Participants listened and responded to recordings of survivor trees from Japan, captured with contact microphones, accelerometers, and hydrophones. Infrared and thermal imaging revealed hidden vitality. These materials, integrated with participant vocal recordings, formed hybrid works presented as live performances and multimedia installations. Analysed data comprised workshop audio recordings and notes, participant reflections, creative texts where functioning as reflective accounts, researcher field notes and reflexive memos, and written reflections from collaborating artists. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis within an interpretivist, arts-based participatory design.

Reflexive thematic analysis identified three themes: (1) Parallel Survivorship—encounters with trees’ “voices” prompted awe and reframed silence as endurance; (2) Reclaimed Agency—co-writing and performance supported identity, confidence, and public presence; (3) Collective Embodiment—shared vocal practice with human and non-human sounds fostered synchrony, joy, and social connection. Reflections from collaborating artists described reciprocal change, noting shifts toward listening, service, and shared authorship.

Where radiation carries complex cultural meanings, these findings highlight the importance of reframing it within clinical and public health contexts—as both a source of harm, and a means of healing. The results demonstrate that immersive, nature-linked co-creation not only assists in meaning-making and relational wellbeing for individuals recovering from voice-altering cancer treatments, but also underscores the potential of such approaches to complement healthcare interventions by fostering emotional recovery and social connectedness. The study furthermore strengthens the existing underpinnings for future mixed-methods and longitudinal research to examine the broader impacts of arts–health collaborations.

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