S.K. Marley

Category: Our Transcapes

  • Long time no see!

    Long time no see!

    Hi folks. It’s been a while. I hope the year has treated you well.

    It’s all been kicking off over here: the new Masters degree in Mesolithic Archaeology began in September; the Queer Natures and Our Transcapes project has started, and I’ve been diagnosed with a cheeky new chronic illness. It’s been a lot to balance alongside part time work, but so wonderful to find purpose among my passions while learning how to properly rest. There’s probably a whole separate blog post on that – but it’s not for now!

    We’ve had some exciting meetings already for Queer Natures. Also working with Dr Ina Linge are two more artists-in-residences; we’re finding ways to collaborate that are queer in of themselves by reframing relationships between institutions and freelance artists, enjoying somatic exercises as part of meetings… it’s been fantastic so far, and I hope to hit the bog with some lovely trans folks in May 2025.

    Expect more updates on the Queer Natures collaboration in the new year (did someone say a commissioned replica of a Roos Carr god dolly?!) and on the Masters, which is feeding my soul (gender nonconforming chimps, anyone?!). I’m also interested in seeing how chronic illness and the world of freelance creativity might work with one another – it would be wonderful to contribute more to community projects once the degree is completed. Let’s see what the path ahead brings.

    In the meantime, I wish you the loveliest festive season – and lots of well-earned rest!

    Onto the next.

    SK x

  • Creativity and community: Therapeutic Landscapes

    Creativity and community: Therapeutic Landscapes

    This post is a bit late coming, but blimey: what an absolute joy the University of Worcester’s Therapeutic Landscapes symposium (9 & 10 March 2024) was.

    120 delegates – artists, myth makers, storytellers, facilitators, researchers, academics, illustrators, sculptors, herbalists, foragers, writers, and project makers – gathered to explore how our landscapes are potential gateways for healing – healing ourselves, each other and the planet.

    Sadly, I didn’t get to watch every talk or attend every workshop – multiple stages and rooms were hosting speakers simultaneously – but those I did get to engage with challenged my assumptions, taught me something new, and changed my perspectives. Feedback from folks who attended my talk about Our Transcapes was likewise positive, I was thrilled to find.

    The need for a queer ancestry

    Ambiguously sexed ‘god dollies’ – East Yorkshire, Iron Age Britain
    A queer person in nature

    While preparing to give my talk, it became very clear that there’s a real need for finding a queer lineage. Our national history and other stories omit minority groups. The responses from queer and neurodivergent audience members really reinforced, for me, the healing power of this story I’m telling in this project: that people who live outside of the binary categories we define ourselves by – and restrict ourselves within, at times – have been around for a very long time.

    That we belong here.

    It makes me even more excited to get Our Transcapes live and out there in the world – especially as anti-trans hate crimes rise in the UK and the quality of mental health in young trans adults falls[1]. Thankfully, we’ve heard that Dr Linge’s Queer Natures project has gotten through to the second stage of our funding application, so fingers crossed the next time we write something about Our Transcapes, it’s to launch it!

    A massive thanks to the Creative Health Research Group at Worcester University for having me.

    SK giving their first talk at a symposium. Phew!
    A symposium delegate’s Instagram story

    [1] Research on increase in anti-trans hate crimes.

  • The Therapeutic Landscapes symposium 2024

    The Therapeutic Landscapes symposium 2024

    I’m thrilled to share that I’ll be presenting Our Transcapes at the University of Worcester’s 2024 symposium, ‘Therapeutic Landscapes: Ritual, Folklore and Wellbeing’ this March.

    The symposium

    This March, the Arts for Health research group and the Folk Cultures group at the University of Worcester are presenting a two-day symposium exploring ‘the intersections of ritual, folklore, magic and landscape and their implications for emotional health and wellbeing’.

    Organised by Desdemona McCannon and Dr John Cussans the symposium hosts panels, workshops and an exhibition to discuss topics such as ‘thin places’; storied landscapes, dreamscapes, and psychological landscapes; enclosures; ancestry; folklore; belonging , and more – all fascinating stuff I’ve been investigating in my creative and academic work for the past decade.

    The organising committee has invited artists, health practitioners, academics and historians that explore these topics to apply, and present their projects. This is the capacity in which I’ll be taking part in the symposium, sharing about Our Transcapes.

    It’s a very exciting programme, and I’m looking forward to meeting people working in this field.

    Find the full symposium programme here.

    Forging a new path

    At the symposium, I’ll discuss how psychogeographic modern pilgrimage to sites of ‘queer prehistory’ in Britain could improve the wellbeing of young trans and genderqueer people today. I’ll also ask if, by sharing their creative responses to this pilgrimage, participants can further forge connections within the trans community – a ‘transecology’.

    In exploring these topics these past few years, I’ve often wondered: ‘so what? What useful things are you going to do with that, S.K.?’ Beyond my writing, what tangible change or meaning can I create with the evidence, expressions, perspectives and happenings of the past that have helped me feel more at home, in myself and in the world?

    This symposium feels like a big step in helping me find that answer. By meeting and hearing from other participants and speakers in the field, I wonder if more of my own future path might emerge, in whatever form it might take. So here’s looking at you, 2024. I’m excited to see where this path might lead!