The Olfactory Storytelling Toolkit
Netherlands
Smells in a heritage context, involving conservation, curation, education, and archiving, can be used as a powerful storytelling technique. In a museum or library setting for instance, olfactory narratives can enhance visitor experiences by making them more memorable.
Posted byMahmoud Said
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Abstract/Description
Scent in the museum. For a long time, this phrase would have raised red flags for conservators, curators, archivists and visitors of heritage spaces – and in many cases it still does. Scents? Where? Surely not in the galleries or in the depot?! Do they indicate undesirable moulds in books or other objects? Are odours spilling from the restroom or the museum café? Do these scents suggest the presence of airborne dangers that might affect the artefacts? Recognised as a hazard or simply lurking in the background, visitors and heritage professionals alike are not accustomed to actively paying attention to smells in cultural heritage institutions. Scents are assumed to be incidental, unintentional, and unwanted.
