This coming Monday, February 19th, will mark 30 years since the passing of the celebrated artist, filmmaker, gardener, and activist Derek Jarman. On the evening of the 19th, Creative Folkestone will live stream the sunset from Prospect Cottage with views of Dungeness. The 3 hour long stream will only be available online for the duration of sunset. Audiences are invited to select their own soundtrack via a Spotify playlist of music from inside Prospect Cottage.
The project, titled Prospect Cottage: Sunset, is a reflection on a life lived at Prospect Cottage in Dungeness, which was Derek Jarman’s home. The live stream will offer viewers from around the world an opportunity to pause, reflect and enjoy the beauty of life in Prospect Cottage and its surroundings on the day of the anniversary.
It was at Prospect Cottage that Jarman worked across film, art, writing and gardening: from his 1990 film The Garden starring Tilda Swinton, to his journal, Modern Nature, to poetry etched in the glass, to driftwood sculptures and the remarkable garden he created on the shingle beach. More than 25 years after his death, Prospect Cottage remains a site of pilgrimage for people from all over the world who come to be inspired by Dungeness, Prospect Cottage and by Jarman’s legacy. The cottage remains an inspiration thanks to Keith Collins (1966 – 2018), Jarman’s close companion in his final years, to whom he bequeathed the cottage. As custodians of Prospect Cottage, Creative Folkestone are responsible for the care of the cottage and to continue to honour the legacy of one of the most influential artists of the late 20th Century.
Prospect Cottage was saved for the nation as a prominent place of creative significance. Following a successful campaign led by the Art Fund, Creative Folkestone became custodians of Prospect Cottage and was tasked to continue the creative legacy of Derek Jarman. Today, Prospect Cottage offers limited public visits, an ambitious artist-in-residence programme and more.
Creative Folkestone have also announced the second round of artists in residence for Prospect Cottage. Fourteen artists will spend time at Prospect Cottage to think, reflect, make, and create. Inspired and energised by Derek Jarman, Prospect Cottage, and Dungeness the residencies will take place at different points over the coming year. The new residents range from designers to curators to film makers, photographers, writers, actors and artists to those interested in queer theory, ecology, health, sound and landscape. A full list can be seen here. Previous residents, in the first round of residencies at Prospect Cottage, included Luke Fowler, Andrea Luka Zimmermann, Paweł Świerczek and Eleanor Penny.
The live stream will be available on Monday 19 February via the Creative Folkestone website and social media channels.