Exhibition brings a haunting exploration of colonial violence to the Strand
The tales of women who have migrated to and from London along the Thames are the subject of a new exhibition based on extensive research by King’s College London.
Visitors viewing ‘The River’s Stomach (Songs of Empire)’ audio-visual installation. Credit: Richard Eaton
‘The River’s Stomach (Songs of Empire)’, a site-specific audio-visual installation by Dr Kate McMillan commissioned by theCOLAB, opened on the Strand on 22 May.
Our public spaces are adorned with histories of conquest, almost always by white men, privileged by class and opportunity. My practice asks people to engage with the quiet histories of women that are at the centre of human experience and community. The fictional women in 'The River’s Stomach (Songs of Empire)’ reflect the people who have arrived in London for hundreds of years, from across the world. The work also speaks to the mechanisms of Empire that make their contributions invisible. These Empirical structures feel, at times, like zombies that never die.
Dr Kate McMillan, artist, Reader in Creative Practice
The exhibition is located in the Strand Lane ‘Roman’ Bath. This small National Trust site is hidden in the narrow lane off Surrey Street and is not, in fact, the ‘Roman’ Bath its owner claimed it to be.
Visitors entering ‘The River’s Stomach (Songs of Empire)' installation off Surrey Street. Credit: Richard Eaton
This faux Roman Bath in central London was built in the 17th century. The water source for the Bath was the remaining portion of a cistern built in 1612 to feed a fountain in the gardens of the old Somerset House – then a royal place for King James I and his wife, Anne Queen of Denmark, but originally commissioned by the 1st Duke of Somerset. The construction of Somerset Palace, like many other parts of the Crown Estate, was funded by the substantial profits of Empire.
It’s exciting to see artist Kate McMillan using the Strand Lane ‘Roman’ Baths as a space to explore women’s stories in colonial histories. It’s a great opportunity for people to see the Baths in a new light and consider the many stories which London’s heritage holds.
Eleanor Harding, Cultural Heritage Curator at the National Trust
The Bath was built in the 1770s by a Mr James Smith, who owned the Georgian Terrace at the front. With the appetite for ancient Rome at its height, typified by activities such as the Grand Tours taking place across Europe, he decided to restore the cistern. Mr Smith then proceeded to charge customers to experience the health benefits of cold-water submersion, tricking them into believing it was a genuine Roman bath. It was frequented by people from across all walks of life, and in 1792, the MP William Weddell drowned after having a seizure in the bath. By the end of the 19th century, the Georgian Terrace had changed ownership and the bath had fallen into disrepair.
Dr Kate McMillan speaking at the launch event for her installation ‘The River’s Stomach (Songs of Empire)’. Credit: Richard Eaton
My approach to making work is to ‘dig where you stand’. My office at King’s is almost directly above the Baths, and I also look out across the Thames from my window. The river is like an artery of Empire – the conduit for the British to embark on voyages of colonisation. I think about my own privilege of being here in London at the heart of Empire, but also all the women’s stories that have gone untold. My work is a piece of speculative fiction for all those lost histories, reminding us that what we know is only a partial account.
Dr Kate McMillan, artist, Reader in Creative Practice
Dr Kate McMillan’s imagination follows the path of the cistern back down to the Thames, the departure and arrival point for the profits of Empire and transforms the ‘Roman Baths’ into ‘The River’s Stomach’. The eel-like form of the Thames is imagined as a digestive tract revealing a silty residue holding traces of stories long forgotten. Women of Empire who arrived, or left England, along the banks of the Thames emerge as projections of 'zombie sirens' who haunt the Roman Baths. The work includes a sound commission in collaboration with composer Cat Hope, the voices of sopranos Sarah Dacey and Vera Brozzini, performers Dr Priyanka Basu and Dr Jessica Rapson, and cinematography by Lily Grimes.
Elements of 'The River’s Stomach (Songs of Empire)’ installation. Credit: Richard Eaton
‘The River’s Stomach (Songs of Empire)’ is presented by theCOLAB, an independent women-led collaborative laboratory working to bring together people, land, and art. The commission is part of the programme at The Artist’s Garden – the COLAB’s initiative that transformed a 1400sqm hidden and neglected roof terrace above Temple tube station into the world’s only sculpture garden dedicated to the work of women artists in public space.
From left to right: Alice Walters (theCOLAB), Dr Kate McMillan (King's College London) and Claire Mander (theCOLAB). Credit: Richard Eaton
Kate McMillan’s work is a thoughtful and moving manifestation of her important research into the drowned stories of the women of Empire. Intertwining the factual and the fictional, women from the past rise siren-like from the Thames. They join (ceramic) eels, having migrated to the wide Sargasso sea and back to converge at this intriguing site, which was once a cistern that served Somerset House’s fountain. The artist reimagines it as ‘The River’s Stomach’ into which the visitor is drawn by the haunting songs of the suffering of other times and places. 'The River's Stomach (Songs of Empire)' brings together narratives with vast historical and geographical reach, urgently asserting their importance and demanding their inclusion into histories of Empire. McMillan’s intervention makes an important contribution to both artistic and academic fields. It is commissioned by theCOLAB on the occasion of the conference 'Taking Place: Women Artists in Public Spaces' co-convened by Dr Kate McMillan, King’s College London, theCOLAB/The Artist’s Garden.
Claire Mander, Director of theCOLAB/The Artist's Garden
The free exhibition is open at 5 Strand Lane until 2 July 2025.
The River’s Stomach (Songs of Empire)
Exhibition: 22 May – 2 July 2025; from 12:30–5:30 pm, Wednesday – Sunday.
CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC ON 28, 30, 31 MAY
Address: Strand Lane ‘Roman’ Baths, 5 Strand Lane, London WC2R 2NA (entry via Surrey Street steps)
