Abstract

The world’s first conference for people with ‘extreme imagination’ will take place at the University of Exeter, UK, on 5 – 7 April 2019.

A huge public response followed the identification, by researchers at the University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health in 2015, of ‘aphantasia’, the lifelong lack of a ‘mind’s eye’. The response came both from people with aphantasia and from people with exceptionally vivid imagery, or ‘hyperphantasia’. This conference responds to their enthusiasm and desire for more information about what is a central but elusive characteristic of their inner lives.

With lectures by the leading scientists and thinkers working on aphantasia and hyperphantasia, plus themed workshops and discussion groups, the conference will enable people with extreme imagination to gain understanding, build a community, and explore the implications of imagery extremes in practical contexts.

Bracey participated in the Artists Panel to accompany the 'Extreme Imaginiation' exhibition at Royal Albert Memorial Museum: Aphantasic and hyperphantasic artists discuss the exhibition with curators Susan Aldworth and Dr Matthew MacKisack