Kookum Lounge Opens in the Kelowna Art Gallery Courtyard

This fall, the Kelowna Art Gallery's inner courtyard  becomes something else entirely. Kookum Lounge is an immersive installation by  interdisciplinary artist and curator Jaimie Isaac, who is a member of Sagkeeng First Nation  and of British heritage. It opens on September 19, 2026. 

Jaimie Isaac builds spaces that ask viewers to slow down. Kookum Lounge presents visitors with an interactive space of light, sound, and refuge to enter. It is a gathering place  of comfort and shelter where storytellers and daydreamers alike are invited to rest, listen  to one another, and reflect. 

Kookum Lounge takes the architectural form of a tipi, but instead of hide or canvas, its  covering is made of upcycled water-resistant sails that have been sewn together. These  materials symbolize the migrations of settlers who came to Turtle Island from across the  waters. Inside, insulated tarps are patchworked into flooring that referenced the shelters of  tent cities. Layered on top is a floral Kookum-scarf fabric, which resembles the blankets of  matriarchal comfort. 

Jaimie Isaac considers the tipi a form of “Indigenous femme architecture,” a space built to  share and pass down knowledge, stories, and language across generations. It is no  coincidence that Kookum is the Anishinaabe word for "Grandmother," and the space is built  in that spirit. 

Kookum Lounge can be seen in the Gallery's Courtyard from September 19, 2026 to  September 2027. An Opening Reception will be held at the Kelowna Art Gallery on  Saturday, September 19, from 2 to 4 pm. It is free and open for the public to attend. 

Kookum Lounge was previously presented as part of Illuminate the Night at Nuit Blanche Winnipeg in 2023, drawing crowds along the city's waterfront. For Kelowna, the work finds  a new home in the Gallery's courtyard, encouraging the same kind of intercultural exchange  it sparked on the shores of the Red River. 

The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street.

For more information, visit  kelownaartgallery.com or call 250-762-2226.