Julian
In 2017 artist couple Fleur Pierets and Julian Boom started out on a plan to marry each other in all twenty-two countries where it was legal, at the time, for two women to wed. This piece of performance art was an attempt to draw attention to equal marriage rights in a way that was positive. They married in New York, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Paris. In early 2018 the project came to an abrupt and untimely end. During the wedding in Paris, Julian became unwell on the steps to the town hall. She turned out to have several tumours in her body and only a few weeks to live.
Fleur Pierets promised Julian that she would complete the celebration of love they had started together. ‘Julian’ is an ode to the love of her life and to their mission to stand up for LGBTQ+ human rights. In this extremely frank debut, Pierets shares her most intimate memories of Julian and writes about the grief, pain and hopelessness she felt after losing the woman she loved. Using philosophical intermezzos, Pierets takes the time to reflect on life and on love. More than simply consoling, ‘Julian’ is a universal story in which readers will recognize themselves. Readers have often called it, tongue in cheek, the LGBTQ+ version of Joan Didion’s ‘The Year of Magical Thinking’.
In 2025 the film version of ‘Julian’ will be released, directed by Lukas Dhont (famous for ‘Girl’ and ‘Close’).
'Julian' is wonderful, which I know is strange to say about grief, but feeling and writing are two different things and the text is swift and lean and moving. I like the motion of the memories that has a fierce logic in the narrative.Siri Hustvedt, Acclaimed American novelist and essayist
