When: Friday, 9 June 2023
Where: Woodhaven EcoCulture Centre
What: WATER + FIRE is a one-day symposium sharing creative and critical perspectives on water ecologies and fire practices. This event will take place at the Woodhaven Eco Culture Centre on syilx territory, primarily outdoors.
This event will be convened by the FEELed Lab (at UBC Okanagan) with support from Simon Fraser University and FCCS, (Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies) and PHH (Public Humanities Hub) at UBC Okanagan.
Confirmed speakers and workshop leaders:
Vanessa Dion Fletcher, Isabelle Wang, Anita Girvan, and Csetkwe Fortier.
Registration is now open!
(As spaces are limited, advance registration is essential)
PROGRAM:
(From 8 am: Bus transportation provided from UBCO campus and downtown Kelowna*)
9:00 am: Coffee/tea/registration
9:30 am: Welcome – syilx Elders Pamela and Grouse Barnes
10:00 am: Learning, Sketching: siwɬkʷ Water Declaration
11:00 am: Making Workshop with artist Vanessa Dion Fletcher. Please note the following request from artist and workshop leader Vanessa Dion Fletcher:
**”Hello! For this performance workshop, please bring one or more pieces of text to share; this can be anything! Banal, personal, sentimental, directional; text permeates our lives (you’re reading it right now). Examples include letters, stickers, personal documents, IDs, receipts, and books. Other participants will be reading and touching these examples, so do not bring anything precious or private. Text in any language is most welcome.”
12:15 pm: Lunch (provided), walking, sketching, resting
1:15 pm – Artist and storyteller Csetkwe Fortier (talk)
2:00 pm: Workshop with poet Isabella Wang
3:15: Singing and storytelling with Anita Girvan, followed by an invitation for contributions of offerings (songs, poems, dancing) from all participants, as we gather around the fire. Following Anita’s performance in the last session of the day, participants are invited to share a water+fire inspired offering – a poem, a song, a reflection, a movement – if they wish! Bring an offering with you … or perhaps you will compose one over the day?
4:00 pm – Official close
4:30 pm – Bus transportation provided to downtown Kelowna and UBCO campus
Water + Fire is pleased to offer complimentary lunch and tea, coffee, and snacks throughout the day!
NOTE ON ACCESSIBILITY:
This event will take place outdoors, so please dress for the weather! The terrain at Woodhaven EcoCulture Center is a mixture of grass, gravel and dirt path. It is flat, but can be uneven in places.
Port-a-potty and handwashing station will be situated adjacent to the event space.
Please let us know if you have any accessibility requests and we will get in touch with you to ensure that suitable arrangements have been made.
*TRANSPORTATION, DIRECTIONS:
*To enhance accessibility, Water + Fire will provide complimentary bus service from and to downtown Kelowna and UBCO.
Please fill out the form below if you require bus service to and/or from Woodhaven.
https://forms.gle/7QcKgvRZzruXymNaA
Car parking at Woodhaven EcoCulture Centre is limited. Directions (car, bike, city bus) and parking instructions can be found on our website through the link below:
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Banner image: “Water + Fire” Courtesy of Chhavi Mathur (please do not reproduce without explicit permission from the artist)
More details coming soon!
In the meantime, browse our videos and reflections on last year’s event here.
The FEELed lab 