Whales
DATE & TIME
22nd January - 26th February 2025Location
Winchester CathedralPrice
Admission included with an annual passBooking
No booking requiredWith your annual pass you can experience this brand new exhibition where you’ll feel immersed to the depths of the ocean as Winchester Cathedral’s nave is transformed to home three whale sculptures.
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.
Explore the Whales events programme below
The Norfolk Broads
The Norfolk Broads, a four-piece female ensemble, are coming to Winchester Cathedral to perform their festival-favourite folk songs under the Whales installation.
Ocean Giants: Whales and the Worlds They Shape
Join experts from the University of Southampton for an evening of thought-provoking talks and performances that explore the diverse worlds created by whales. Bringing together science, art, and law, these experts will highlight the far-reaching impact of these majestic creatures on our planet.
Kimber's Men
Captivating audiences with their fabulous harmonies and amusing banter since 2001, Kimber’s Men have performed at folk and shanty festivals throughout the length and breadth of the UK and internationally. Don’t miss their first performance at Winchester Cathedral!
Artist Talk : Tessa Campbell Fraser
Join Tessa Campbell Fraser as she discusses her work and the making of Whales, followed by a visit to the cathedral to view the work with the artist.
Valentine's Date Night under the Whales
In search of a unique experience for your Valentine’s plans? Experience the Whales installation with your loved ones and enjoy special music, cocktails, tours and experiences.
Silent disco under the Whales for Families
From Grandpas that can groove to Mums that mambo, invite all the family and create memories that will last a lifetime. Grab your dancing shoes for an unforgettable evening as you dance like no one’s watching under the Whales.
Silent disco under the Whales for Adults
Invite your friends and party in the nave of the iconic Winchester Cathedral, a stones throw away from Hampshire’s finest bars. This is the perfect alternative event to kick off your night out on the town.
The Whale : Plastic Ocean
With the use of exquisite puppets, comedy and music, Circo Rum Ba Ba explore the tale of sea creatures and their battle to survive in an ocean full of rubbish. A fun and educational experience for children.
How to be a Whale : A bioacoustic listening journey
How To Be A Whale is a bioacoustic listening journey – a soundscape of many hundreds of scientific recordings woven together into a story told through the lives of seven different whales and dolphins in a celebration of the sounds of the sea.
Author talk and book signing: Tom Mustill 'How to Speak Whale'
Join biologist turned filmmaker and writer Tom Mustill for a thrilling investigation into the pioneering world of animal communication, where big data and artificial intelligence are changing our relationship with animals forever.
Sold Out: The Longest Johns and El Pony Pisador
This event has now sold out.
Sea shanty and folk legends The Longest Johns and El Pony Pisador are coming to Winchester Cathedral for a one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime performance beneath three enormous sperm whales.
Bringing Tessa Campbell Fraser’s, The Whales to Winchester Cathedral will connect the awe and wonder of God’s creation with a building expressing human longing for connection, human and divine. We will inevitably be led to reflect on our connection with creation and all God’s creatures and the call to live in harmony and justice. Whales are familiar yet mysterious and wonderfully ‘other’. The Whales at Winchester Cathedral will create a richly evocative and unforgettable experience for us all.The Very Revd Catherine Ogle Dean of Winchester
About the artist
Tessa Campbell Fraser
Tessa Campbell Fraser F.R.S.S. (born 1967)
Tessa Campbell Fraser is a British painter and sculptor based in Oxfordshire. Born in Edinburgh, she studied at Chelsea School of Art and afterwards established herself as one of the country’s leading animal artists. She has completed several major life-size, and larger than life, sculptures and paintings for clients including the late Queen Elizabeth II, the King of Bahrain, Knuthenborg Safari Park Denmark, William Grant & Son, the Household Cavalry and Sir Jackie Stewart. She has work in private collections around the world including Australia, South Africa, Monaco, and the USA, and has exhibited widely including at the Royal Academy Summer Shows, Sculpture at Goodwood, the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford and the Natural History Museum in London where she had a major solo show in 2004.
In 2001, she was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors and became a Fellow of the Society in 2004.
Campbell Fraser’s work is informed by her interaction with nature and travels, notably Greenland and recently Dominica, inspiring a series of paintings and allegorical sculptures exploring the interspecies relationship between man and animal. Initially she Portrayed this in a group of sculptures for her Bishop and Bear series and laterally, her work has involved the interspecies communication with Whales.
She has been concerned with the effects of Climate Change for over twenty years and her sculptures offer a poignant and beautiful reflection on the symbiosis between man and animal, and how precarious this balance is for both as man encroaches more and more into the wild spaces. She is constantly in awe of how much we can learn from the natural world.
Notable Commissions
H.M. THE QUEEN
• Life plus 10% – Bronze of Estimate – Gold Cup Winner – Sandringham
• Two Bronze life-size Dorgis – Buckingham Palace
• Portrait in Landscape with Dogs – Sandringham
• Shirley Heights – Oil Painting of Derby Winner 1978
H.M. KING HAMBAD BIN ISA Al KHAlIFA OF BAHRAIN
• 24 life-size Bronze Sand Gazelles
H.R.H PRINCE FAHD SALMAN
• Generous – Oil Painting of Derby Winner 1991, Irish Derby Winner 1991, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes Winner 1991 and Dewhurst Stakes Winner 1991
WILLIAM GRANT & SON
• Life-size Bronze Stag for Head Office
KNUTHENBORG PUBLIC SAFARI PARK; BRONZE SCULPTURES:
• Three Life-size Hippos
• Seven Life-size Guinea Fowl
• Three Three-Quarter Life-size Elephants
THE HOUSEHOLD CAVALRY
• Sefton. Painting commissioned by the Household Cavalry to honour the Cavalry Black horse so badly injured in the IRA bombing in London Hyde Park in July 1982. 250 limited edition prints made of painting.
SIR JACKIE STEWART
• Three Bronze lifesize Highland Cows
• Two life size stags
• Three life size hippos
NATIONAL SCULPTURE COMPETITION ‘07
• Won major national competition for a commission of eight life-and-a-half size bronze figures
About the sponsor
University of Southampton, Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI)
The Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI) is a large community of ocean-facing experts from across the University of Southampton and beyond that works to address challenges around the natural ocean environment and human use of the seas. Working in partnership with external stakeholders, we generate new collaborations, knowledge and ideas for businesses, governments, and organisations to develop wide-ranging solutions to ocean challenges. In doing so, we educate the next generation of ocean leaders.
The SMMI is excited to support the Whales at Winchester event. The historic setting of Winchester Cathedral provides a dramatic setting to showcase the majesty of whales as creatures and art-form, but also to highlight the mysteries of the oceans and the challenges confronting our seas and coastlines.