Image: Kelowna Art Gallery
Jaimie Isaac’s 'Kookum Lounge' opens September 19, 2026, in the Kelowna Art Gallery’s inner courtyard and is scheduled to remain on view through September 2027.
The installation offers visitors an interactive environment of light, sound and comfort. Rather than using hide or canvas, Isaac adapts the architectural form of the tipi with upcycled water-resistant sails from sailboats sewn together as its covering.
The sails symbolize the migrations of settlers who came to Turtle Island from across the waters. The flooring combines a patchwork of insulated tarps representing tent cities with floral Kookum-scarf fabric resembling blankets of matriarchal comfort.
'Kookum Lounge' attunes to Indigenous–Settler relations and intersections of histories and present moments. The installation offers a place of refuge and reflection while encouraging intercultural exchange, inviting storytellers and nappers to rest, listen to one another and reflect.
Isaac is a curator and interdisciplinary artist, an Anishinabe-kwe member of Sagkeeng First Nation and of British heritage. Kookum is the Anishinaabe word for “Grandmother.”
The opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, September 19, from 2 to 4 pm.
