Overview
“Whales” is an imposing art installation, touring a number of English Cathedrals in 2025 / 2026, accompanied by “Under Whales,” a programme of shanty singing, educational and entertainment events linked to the theme.
Whales features a stunning art installation depicting three sperms whales, created by artist Tessa Campbell Fraser and bathed in underwater light. (*)
St. Albans Cathedral comes to life with the spirit of the sea!
Join us on the 31st January 2026 for our family-friendly Sea Shanty Festival, “Under Whales” hosted by The Silver Darlings.
The festival will take place between 12.30pm-3.30pm with three groups, plenty of food and drink, and a joyful, relaxed atmosphere.
In the evening, Kimber’s Men take centre stage from 7pm-10pm for a festival style concert of powerful harmonies and maritime song.
Under Whales also took place in Winchester Cathedral in January / February 2025, including a performance by The Norfolk Broads on the 1st February and will transfer to Rochester Cathedral in 2026, where The Silver Darlings will be performing on the 19th February.
(*) In this art installation, Campbell Fraser will seek to unravel the interspecies communications between man and animal that are currently at the forefront of scientific research. She will create three monumental (5.2m, 4.6m and 3m respectively) sculptures of sperm whales which will hang from the nave ceiling. The nave’s wooden roof beams were often compared to the timbers of an upside down ship or boat, carrying subliminal associations with the industrial scale whaling which reduced sperm whale numbers to critical levels in the 19th century, when their waxy spermaceti oil famously oiled the wheels of the Industrial Revolution. The sculptures offer a response to the environment whereby the viewer becomes immersed into an imaginative world of the whale whilst the surroundings reflect man’s increasing ecological impact on the world’s climate.