Prophecies

Prophecies is an audio work about the future created by Artist Maddie Exton. Maddie has interviewed Jane Hedges (the Very Reverend of Norwich Cathedral), Penny Francis (a psychic medium), Vonnie Spooner (a spirit guide) and a group of 7 year olds from Earl Soham Primary School to ask them what the future looks like. Harnessing a range of voices, Prophecies will invite listeners into a moment of intimacy with each speaker and open a space for reconnecting with dreaming. The past year has plunged many into survival mode and Prophecies pushes us to be curious again. Religious spaces are a place people often look to for answers and hope, and as such, being set in the Cathedral grounds, the short trail can act like a modern pilgrimage.

“In crises, we pray. Our engagement with religion continues to change, and I wondered how God can act as guidance in the modern world. In the dark days of post ww1 Britain, spiritualism became so popular it almost overtook the Anglican Church, and that same thirst for spiritual comfort has been mirrored during covid. I spoke to a spirit guide and a medium to see what messages and spiritual lessons we can take forward. Working with a group of children from Earl Soham Primary School, it was refreshing and surprising to see what the young think the world will look like in 25 years, allowing the content to be both playful and poignant, two things I always strive for.”