Seán Kissane is Curator of Exhibitions at IMMA and is the curator of  the exhibition Derek Jarman, PROTEST!. Focusing both on contemporary art and work from the post-war period, he has curated various shows bringing the work of international modern and contemporary artists to Ireland for the first time. Major shows include the retrospective for Alice Maher held at IMMA’s offsite space at Earlsfort Terrace; the first retrospective of Surrealist Leonora Carrington; and an exhibition looking at the lives of Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. He developed an important strand of programming the ‘Modern Masters’ Series, which presents deeply researched exhibitions on figures from our recent history such as Gerda Frömel and Cecil King, the first queer reading of Irish art with the Patrick Hennessy exhibition and a retrospective on Mary Swanzy.

Derek Jarman (1942-1994) was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener, political activist and author. He was educated at the University of London and at the Slade School of Art. In 1967 Jarman exhibited in Young Contemporaries, Tate Gallery, London (prizewinner); Edinburgh Open 100, Lisson Gallery, London and Fifth Biennale des Jeunes Artistes, Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris.

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