The exhibition BLUE, signed by Derek Jarman, the most controversial British filmmaker, artist and director, can be visited at the contemporary art gallery META Spațiu from Timișoara.
The exhibition 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 | 𝐃𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐤 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧, curated by Mirela Stoeac-Vlăduți, has at its centre the video installation Blue which is both “the manifesto and artistic testament of the well-known British artist/director/writer Derek Jarman, a personal exploration against death, AIDS and discrimination. The installation presents a sensitive aural journey, positioned in front of a blue screen (a reference to Yves Klein’s blue and the blue spots the artist begins to see when his vision is impaired), revealing key moments in Jarman’s life – the first stirrings of love, the discovery of his own queer sexuality, fear of authorities, the hostile social environment, the struggle with HIV, the imminence of death and … the serenity of blue. The infinite, the abyss, but also the possibility of inner peace.
𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 is a manifesto for the right to life and fair treatment for every human being, revealing the dynamics of a society that lacks empathy and of an unjust and discriminatory social system. Through this cinematic meditation, contained in the sensibility of a single color, Derek Jarman exposes his own vulnerability and inner turmoil in his struggle with illness and death. But what makes Jarman’s work so important is that, aesthetically, it engages all forms of representation in the process of overpowering the sexualized iconography of queer people.”
The exhibition 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 | 𝐃𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐤 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 at the contemporary art gallery META Spatiu is a chronicle of fear and sexual repression, the devastation caused by illness, and Jarman’s inimitable courage and grace, a biography and an honest tribute to Derek Jarman’s uncompromising life and art.
𝐃𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐤 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 (1942-1994) was a gifted writer, artist, gardener, designer and an outspoken AIDS and gay rights activist. Jarman’s story stretches from his childhood in post-war Britain to the Slade School of Art and the making of numerous acclaimed films, including Sebastiane, Jubilee, Caravaggio and the video installation 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 (in the collection of some of the world’s greatest museums and exhibited in international galleries and art centres – MoMA, Tate, David Zwirner etc.).
Premiered in 1993 at the Venice Biennale and simultaneously broadcast on Channel 3, 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐄 became one of the most acclaimed works of art in the world. The one who helped Jarman make his project a reality was his good friend and film producer James Mackay, along with the artist’s other friends, actors Tilda Swinton, Nigel Terry and John Quentin.
Assistant curators: Marina Paladi and Loredana Nedelcu.






𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜-𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝐀𝐅𝐂𝐍. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑑𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐴𝐹𝐶𝑁 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒.