A contribution from Therese Keogh, FEELed Lab Visiting Researcher from January to April 2023.
I’m an artist, based on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country on the south-east coast of Australia. From January to April 2023, I visited the FEELed Lab to work on my PhD in the company of new people in an unfamiliar place. I want to begin this reflection with a giant heartfelt thanks to Astrida and Dani for the immense hospitality and the warmth of friendship, that nourished me through seasonal shifts and across unexpected distances. When I remember my time in Kelowna the communities of people orbiting around and transitioning through the FEELed Lab are what have stayed with me, along with deep gratitude for learning about and from Syilx lands and waters around Woodhaven and Kelowna.
Not long after I arrived in January, Jen Hamilton came too, and we spent days writing and chatting and swimming and skiing, me learning about the durations of snow for the first time and Jen becoming reacquainted. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Astrida, Dani and Natalie were around too, and we’d share sprawling lunches with whoever happened to be at the Lab, giving each other glimpses into our favourite snacks and the dregs of our fridges. These were special times as we talked about what we were working on, swapped anecdotes from our homes and lives, and laughed until we cried about the vast array of dips on offer at Pete’s Independent Grocer. In the afternoons I’d go walking in the park next to the lab, watching it through the depths of winter and into spring. After a day of writing, I’d often meet Jen and Stan at H20 (my fave Kelowna hot spot), and we’d go for a swim, float for hours in the lazy river, and race each other on the water slides. On weekends I’d tag along with Astrida and Kim, and the crew, to go skiing, snowshoeing, or tubing. Not really knowing much about snow or ice it felt like a steep learning curve on how to use my body differently in different weathers and climates.
I was invited to start a writing group while I was visiting. I called it Written Together (based on a similar group I run in Australia), and we met monthly to discuss the writing of two people. This was a great way to meet some extended communities from UBCO, and it was a total joy to read texts by Jen, Astrida, Onyx, Tess, Mel, Maria, Dani, Heather, and Sarah. Towards the end of my stay Astrida asked me if (or how) being at the FEELed Lab had influenced my writing. Even now, a couple of months later, it’s hard to answer precisely. I think the most accurate answer is that being in conversation/relation/proximity with different people and their creative processes does all kinds of transformative work to my thought patterns and practices, so that even tangentially the things I write are made possible because of the people I’m surrounded by and the place that I’m in (different place+people=different writing).
In March Astrida and I drove to Vancouver for a weekend, and she taught me to drive on the righthand side of the road (which was a bit hairy for a moment). In the car our conversations covered nearly as much ground as we did. We spent the final hour silently listening to an audio file I have from a hydrophone recording on Awabakal and Worimi Country, of a dredge dumping just outside of the Port of Newcastle. In the final month of my time in Kelowna, Rebecca Macklin arrived from UK, and she, Astrida and I did another road trip over six days to Fort McMurray, Alberta, to visit the Tar Sands and meet with some people there. It was epic and intense and I’m still processing the things I learnt and the way that place changed me. I was so grateful to be able to share that space with Astrida and Rebecca, and also to meet Cleo, Paul, and Sandros from Keepers of the Water, and Torchy, with his wealth of local knowledge. Those encounters are ones that will stay with me for a long time, and I’ll carry with me as I travel through different lands and waters.
Since leaving Kelowna I’ve missed it greatly, and can imagine that it’ll be a place I return to over time, reconnecting with the people I met and the spaces I visited. Before I sign off, I want to drop a shortlist of my Kelowna-FEELed Lab highlights (in no particular order):
The chaos of snow tubing
Dinners and movies
Drag cabaret and poetry slams
Learning to ski
Reading lots
Tattoos and piercings
New friends
Long drives
Short drives
Walking on ice
Icy swims, saunas, hot tubs, and waterslides
The way the snow is glittery when you walk home after midnight
Sounds changing as seasons shift
Munchy mix
Screaming over cake
Pseudonyms and nicknames
The FEELed lab 