Crowdfunding campaign saves Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage

A crowdfunding campaign raised £3,624,087 from over 8,100 donations in just 10 weeks, saving Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage from private speculation. The campaign was launched in January by the Slade School of Art, which Jarman attended, with active collaboration from Art Fund and actress Tilda Swinton. Major contributions included £750,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and £250,000 from the Linbury Trust. Swinton, who began her career in Jarman's 1986 film 'Caravaggio', enlisted support from Al Pacino, Scarlett Johansson, and Robert De Niro. The funds will allow Art Fund to purchase the Victorian cottage, establish a permanent public cultural events program, and preserve the interior, furnishings, and garden. Jarman's archive—including notebooks, sketches, letters, drawings, photographs, film awards, and a library covering Victorian art, medieval alchemy, quantum physics, and occult philosophy—will be long-term loaned to the Tate Archive, available for public consultation at the Hyman Kreitman Reading Rooms by end of 2020. Jarman (1942–1994) was a visionary filmmaker, artist, and social activist whose films explored homosexuality from ethical and philosophical perspectives, including 'Sebastiane' (1976) and 'Jubilee' (1977), the first British film about punk music, featuring Jayne County, Wayne County & the Electric Chairs, Toyah Willcox, and Adam & the Ants.