Jenkin van Zyl: Enclosure
A newly commissioned film and installation by Somerset House Studios artist Jenkin van Zyl, that explores a culture where technological advancement has outpaced our ability to make sense of it.
| Dates | 24 Sep - 29 Nov 2026 |
| Times | Mon Closed Tue & Wed 12–6pm Thu 12–8pm Fri & Sat 12–6pm Sun 10am–4pm |
| Space | Lancaster Rooms New Wing |
| Price | Free |
Artists in Residence
Enclosure is set within a decaying facility that was once designed for replication—a destination where tourists could temporarily inhabit the lives of others. Each year, on Founding Day, Donors return to either renew or terminate their doubles, known as Cherubs, through a ritual intended to sever the connection between original and copy.
Mercy, a starlet who lent her likeness to the programme, arrives to terminate her contract. Instead, the process begins to collapse the distance between them, and what was designed as a clear division becomes porous and unstable.
At its core, the work asks what happens when systems built on desire and self-preservation outlast the conditions that created them. In a world where meaning erodes faster than systems can adapt, Enclosure presents maintenance as a form of denial, as institutions, technologies, and individuals persist in upkeep beyond its purpose.
The installation extends Enclosure into a large-scale immersive environment where audiences move through the material remains of the facility—fairground signage, holograms, inflatable cocoons, decaying ephemera—a world still performing its upkeep long after the system it served has collapsed.
Commissioned by Film and Video Umbrella, Somerset House Studios and HOME, Manchester. Developed in residence at Somerset House Studios. FVU and HOME are supported using public funding by Arts Council England.
After premiering at Somerset House Studios, Enclosure will open at HOME, Manchester from 26 February to 16 May 2027.
About
Film and Video Umbrella
Film and Video Umbrella commissions, produces and curates artists’ moving-image works, and presents them in collaboration with galleries and cultural partners throughout the UK and internationally. We enable artists to make challenging and ambitious projects, promoting innovation through our support of new and significant voices working across the visual arts. FVU has supported more than 200 different artists’ projects, from multi-screen installations to online commissions.
fvu.co.uk | @filmvidumbrella
HOME
HOME is Manchester’s centre for international contemporary culture. Since opening in May 2015 it has welcomed over 7 million visitors to its 3 galleries, 5 cinemas, 2 theatres. Our mission is to create and share high-quality art that improves the life chances of the people of Manchester. The gallery programme is characterised by cross artform collaboration and transgressive practices with a strong history of commissioning and curating new work by international, UK and NW based artists, over the last 10 years and at Cornerhouse retrospectively. After a period of social, political and continued economic upheaval, the programme strives to be self-reflective, institutionally aware, exploring under-represented and alternative narratives through solo, group exhibition and inviting artists to curate, increasing vantage points and embracing alternative approaches to curation.
homemcr.org |Instagram @HOMEmcr|Twitter @HOME_mcr | Facebook HOMEmcr|Tik Tok homemcr