Jenkin van Zyl at Somerset House

Enclosure, London, UK

Somerset House Studios presents multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Jenkin van Zyl’s first major exhibition in London, co-commissioned with Film and Video Umbrella. Developed in residence at Somerset House Studios, a new single-channel film and installation will premiere in the New Wing in September 2026.

Set in a decaying cryonics facility in the English countryside, Enclosure follows a small group of reenactors as they cycle through a ritual of upkeep whose purpose has long since blurred. At its core, the film explores preservation as both promise and cruelty — a facility designed to contain memory, grief, and identity, but which demands endless maintenance to sustain what it was meant to preserve.

Jenkin van Zyl, Enclosure, production still, 2026. Courtesy the artist. 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.