Voices of Coal now on display at the National Coal Mining Museum
The immersive film installation, Voices of Coal, in which Geosolutions Leeds took part, is now on display at the National Coal Mining Museum for England.
Developed by artist Debbie Harman, the exhibition opened on 20 December 2025 and will run until Sunday, 1 March 2026.
Memory and Renewal
Voices of Coal is inspired by Kellingley Colliery mine and explores the future after coal while paying homage to the mining past.
Through film, sound, and immersive art, the exhibition intertwines themes of grief, legacy, and transformation. Using authentic voices and personal memories, the exhibition brings the story of coal mining vividly to life.
Debbie Harman, Artist, said: “This project is deeply personal, channelling the loss of my brother and my father’s spirit to live on. It poses the question of how we live on? What stories live on? And through whose voice, the human, the land or the coal? Considering coal was the catalyst to entangle narratives of ecology, ancestral history and Kellingley heritage.
A snapshot of the Voices of Coal projection
Movement also plays a key role; revealed through motion capture of the miner Colin in the XR Stories lab. This drew an understanding of how movement can be both archive, the past and the present. A fluctuation between presence and absence. Another highlight was working with the Geosolutions lab in Leeds. Hearing the first seismometer recordings of the Wakefield Coal seam embodied my grief. It is loss but also renewal, it's deep bass sounds are of the earth, alive and growing"
An exciting blend of art and science
The project is a result of an interesting collaboration between artist Debbie Harman and Geosolutions Leeds’ Geomechanics Lab. A combination of geomechanical laboratory testing and in situ seismometers was used to capture the hidden resonances of coal seams. The installation is a unique blend of art and science that invites people to think about the earth beneath our feet, with a focus on energy, ecology, and varying depths of memory.
Voices of Coal at the National Coal Mining Museum
Prof Dave Healy, Director of Geosolutions Leeds, said: ‘We really enjoyed working on this project, as it helped us to simultaneously test new equipment and think outside of our standard science ‘box’. The seismometer at the National Coal Mining Museum will go on recording and provide open data for all to use and share.’
Visitors are welcome to take a seat in the Museum's project space and experience the visual journey. The exhibition is free to enter and is located at the Hub.
For more information about the exhibition, visit www.ncm.org.uk.