Scent and Museums: Crafting Olfactory Experiences

Overview

Olfactory visitor experiences are becoming increasingly popular. Museums and heritage spaces around the world are using scent to engage and develop audiences, contextualise collections and enhance narrative experiences, as well as to inject some fun into exhibitions and programming. But what makes an olfactory visitor experience effective? What expertise and resources are needed to do one well? And how do we go about measuring its impact? This course will explore and address these questions through a range of interactive, discussion-based lectures and hands-on workshops.

Whether using scent for the first time, or refining your olfactory approach, the sessions are designed to hone skills and inspire creativity that can be applied to any museum or heritage context. There will be a balance between developing an understanding around the theory and rationale for using scent, exploring effective examples through case studies, and hands-on activities to test techniques and develop ideas for your own museums.

The programme will include object handling and gallery-based activities at the Ashmolean Museum led by Matthew Winterbottom, curator at the Ashmolean Museum, and a masterclass on sensory interpretation with Tasha Marks, of AVM Curiosities.

Programme details

Day 1

9:30am: Introductions and sensory warm-up activity

10am: Why Scent? Case studies and examples which illustrate the potential and benefits of olfactory storytelling in museums and heritage spaces.

11am: Short break

11:30am: Scent workshop: A practical ‘nose-on’ activity exploring scent - its relationship with memory and emotions - and how it can be harnessed for a museum and heritage setting.

1pm: Lunch

1:45pm: Visit to the Ashmolean museum: How to incorporate scent and scent-based language into handling sessions and live interpretation in the galleries. Group activities.

2:45pm: Short break

3pm: Continue group activities at the Ashmolean.

4pm: Reconvene to wrap up the day.

5pm: Close

Day 2

9:30am: Introductions and sensory warm up activity

10am: Scent & Storytelling Masterclass with Tasha Marks: Part 1. Past projects by AVM Curiosities which illustrate the benefits of using taste, smell and sound in gallery and museum settings.

11am: Short break

11:30am: Scent & Storytelling Masterclass: Part 2. Hands-on activity to explore, experiment with and deepen understanding of practical processes involved in working with fragrance and scented materials.

12:30pm: Overview of the morning and activity setting for the afternoon.

1pm: Lunch

2pm: Guided working in groups to develop ideas for participants’ own institutions, including 30 minutes at the end to present and receive feedback.

3:30pm: Short break

4pm: Review of the course with time for questions. 

5pm: Close

Digital Certification

Digital badge

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be issued with an official digital badge from the Department for Continuing Education, University of Oxford. After the course, you will receive an email with a link and instructions on how to download your digital badge. You will be able to add your badge to your email signature and share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Fees

Description Costs
In-person tuition £500.00

Tutors

Claire Dobbin

Course Director

Claire Dobbin is a curator and interpretation consultant who specialises in multisensory and olfactory visitor experiences. She has 20 years of experience working in a wide range of museums and heritage spaces around the world, primarily in the UK and Middle East. She teaches on the MA in Museums, Galleries & Contemporary Culture at the University of Westminster, where her interdisciplinary doctoral research focuses on the use of scent as an interpretive tool and its impact on engagement and memory. Claire is a Trustee of Wiltshire Museum and sits on a variety of advisory panels, including for the AHRC funded research project, The Sensational Museum. Her relevant publications include: ‘Engaging the Olfactory: Scent in the Arts, Cultures and Museums of the Islamic World’, The Multisensory Image, 2019 and ‘Hands-on, Shoes-off: Multisensory Tools Enhance Family Engagement Within an Art Museum’, Visitor Studies Journal, 2018.

Tasha Marks

Tutor

Tasha Marks is an award-winning artist and historian who specialises in multisensory interpretation. Through her creative practice AVM Curiosities® she has been exploring the relationship between art and the senses through a series of events and interventions since 2011. AVM Curiosities advocates for the sensory museum, championing the use of food and fragrance as artistic mediums. Tasha has curated scent-based exhibits and programmes for clients including the Royal Academy of Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, The National Gallery, Historic Royal Palaces and The National Trust.

Matthew Winterbottom

Tutor

Matthew has more than 25 years of experience working with and researching European decorative arts of the 16th–21st centuries. He started his career at the Victoria & Albert Museum as an Assistant Curator in the Metalwork and the Furniture and Woodwork Departments. This was followed by seven years as Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts at the Royal Collection. While there, he co-curated several major exhibitions at the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace and wrote the Official Guide to Windsor Castle.

Course aims

  • To demystify scent as an interpretive tool and explore the powerful roles it is playing in narrative experiences around the world.
  • To get participants thinking ‘multisensorially’ about their museums and collections, with practical tips and creative ideas for incorporating scent into exhibits and programming.
  • To create opportunities for practitioners to experience and experiment with new olfactory ways of working, which shake up their approach to delivering programmes and interpreting collections.

Learning outcomes

On this two-day course museum practitioners will develop:                          

  • A deeper understanding of the potential and benefits of incorporating olfactory experiences into museums, galleries and heritage spaces, based on the relationship between scent, memory, emotions and well-being.
  • Awareness of the latest examples and innovations around the world, where scent is being employed to diversify interpretation and enhance audience engagement.
  • Practical skills and understanding of some of the key processes involved in working with fragrance and scent materials.
  • Creative ideas and inspiration for introducing scent and scent-centred language to their own exhibits and programming.      

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please contact us to obtain an application form.

Accommodation

Accommodation is available to book for this course at Rewley House. If you have any questions regarding the accommodation please get in touch with Continuing Education Residential Centre res-ctr@conted.ox.ac.uk

All bedrooms are modern, comfortably furnished and each room has tea and coffee making facilities, Freeview television, and Free WiFi and private bath or shower rooms.