Abstract
Within the field of sensory museology, olfactory approaches are gaining more attention, from curators, heritage communication and education, artists and researchers. However, olfactory museology, conducting and studying experiments with smell in curatorial practices, is suffering from a lack of documentation–both regarding the experiments conducted, and the impact of the approaches. In this paper we report on the development of scented guided tours in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (2015–2020): a co-creation between academics, heritage professionals, and the scent industry. We describe 1) the creation of historically informed and artistic scents to accompany works of art, 2) the experimentation with different methods for olfactory storytelling and smell distribution techniques, 3) the development of a methodology for impact measurement (through questionnaires, interviews and observation), and 4) the outcomes of the impact analysis, also taking into account the advantages of olfactory storytelling for people of different abilities, in this case blind people and people with low vision.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 315-342 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | The Senses and Society |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 24 Nov 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the NWO [314-99-006].
Funding Information:
This research was conducted in the context of the “In Search of Lost Scents” project: a collaboration between a knowledge institute (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), a heritage institute (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam) and the scent industry (International Flavors & Fragrances www.iff.com ), funded by the Dutch National Science Foundation NWO. We would like to thank all of the persons involved: Rijksmuseum staff, IFF perfumers and scent developers, and the education and communication team members Pauline Kintz, Cathelijne Denekamp, Thijs Gerbrandy. Special thanks to Laura Speed and Stan Knoops, who advised us for the impact measurement, to Katja Kwastek and Frits Scholten who co-supervised the project, to Hannes Wallrafen (’Geluid in Zicht’) who co-organized the tours for the visually impaired, and to Ep Köster, a great inspiration for smell studies researchers.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Funding
This work was supported by the NWO [314-99-006]. This research was conducted in the context of the “In Search of Lost Scents” project: a collaboration between a knowledge institute (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), a heritage institute (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam) and the scent industry (International Flavors & Fragrances www.iff.com ), funded by the Dutch National Science Foundation NWO. We would like to thank all of the persons involved: Rijksmuseum staff, IFF perfumers and scent developers, and the education and communication team members Pauline Kintz, Cathelijne Denekamp, Thijs Gerbrandy. Special thanks to Laura Speed and Stan Knoops, who advised us for the impact measurement, to Katja Kwastek and Frits Scholten who co-supervised the project, to Hannes Wallrafen (’Geluid in Zicht’) who co-organized the tours for the visually impaired, and to Ep Köster, a great inspiration for smell studies researchers.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Dutch National Science Foundation NWO | |
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme | 101004469 |
| NWO | 314-99-006 |
Keywords
- Co-creation
- history of smell
- impact measurement
- inclusivity
- olfactory museology
- scent diffusion
- scent reconstructions
- Sensory museology