Eating perfumes and smelling colour

During this talk art and scent historian Caro Verbeek will dive into a topic that is at the intersection of flavour and smell: the unique history of perfumed banquets from antiquity to the 20th century. The ancient Romans knew that we do not merely perceive scents with our noses (orthonasally), but also with our mouths (retronasally). Not only were fragrances diffused ambiently during banquets, tables and floors rubbed with spices and flowers, but liquid perfumes and flowers were even consumed for a full experience. This forgotten practice was rekindled by a group of artists named the 'Futurists'. They used electric fans and even air plane propellers to distribute smells during extravagant dinner parties. They had a special interest in another fascinating phenomenon: smell-synaesthesia. Whereas most scientists and artists only study colour to sound-synaesthesia, this group of creatives actually tried to translate perfumes to colourful shapes and 'artificial flowers'.

This webinar is going to be interactive, so attendants are kindly requested to have beforehand whatever is easier for them to get a hold on, Plant/herb or Essential Oil of the following: Rosemary, Damask Rose, Cinnamon (or Clove or Pepper or Elemi), Peppermint (or Eucalyptus or Anise) and Neroli.

About Dr. Caro Verbeek

Dr. Caro Verbeek (1980) is known internationally for her embodied and sensory endeavours to (re)construct (art) history, for example by her TEDx-talk 'Inhaling the Past, Smelling the Future'. She concluded her PhD "In Search of Lost Smells" on smell and futurism and olfactory museology in 2020, has been teaching on and through the senses for 15 years, and has lectured and published widely on olfactory history. She designed several courses on how to use the senses more analytically and artistically. Furthermore, she is one of the architects of the 'Odeuropa' project on European olfactory heritage and last but not least she works as a curator at Kunstmuseum Den Haag (the Hague) where she specialises in Mondrian and avant-garde art. Her adage is: You see more when you smell.