A screening of Sam Williams’s Deep in The Eye and The Belly (Chapters 1 & 2), followed by a panel discussion with the artist alongside Dr Sarah Lewis, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature and Co-Director of the Shakespeare Centre London, Dr. Hillary Briffa Senior Lecturer in National Security Studies and the Assistant Director of the Centre for Defence Studies and Principal Curator of Mammals at the Natural History Museum, Richard Sabin.

We will also be hosting a looped screening of Deep in The Eye and The Belly (Chapters 1 - 5) on 29th November, and invite you to drop in to view this. Details to follow. 

This event is part of Lost and Found: Stories of sanctuary and belonging.

Lost & Found foregrounds stories of sanctuary - exploring themes of refuge, resilience, and the search for safety in a world facing significant social, political, and environmental challenges.

This eclectic programme of art, film, ideas and discussions reflects King’s status as a University of Sanctuary. It has been inspired and informed by King’s life-changing research and co-created with artists and communities from across London and beyond.

About Deep in The Eye and The Belly

In the present day, a story is unearthed of a whale body that became a world of dinner parties, clandestine sex and mayoral speeches. In a possible future, a group of those-who-were-left-behind (or, those-who-chose-to-stay) have made a home inside the body of a whale. They find themselves contemplating this new world and speculating on the state of things outside – a world ravaged by a climate crisis which they survived by turning to the ocean. At a crossing between the present day and this potential future, a lone figure sings a lament for the body of the world’s last whale.

About The Panel

Sam Williams is an artist with a practice that intertwines moving-image, collage, choreography, sound and writing. Sam is currently working at Somerset House Studios.

Dr Sarah Lewis is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature at King’s College London, and Co-Director of the Shakespeare Centre London.

Dr Hillary Briffa is Senior Lecturer in National Security Studies and the Assistant Director of the Centre for Defence Studies

Richard Sabin is Principal Curator of Mammals at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London, where he has worked for more than 30 years. With his curatorial work primarily focused on the study of cetaceans using the Natural History Museum’s world-class research collections, Richard is collaborating with colleagues from around the world to generate new scientific data from old Museum specimens and is NHM advisor to the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme.