Experimental Scent Summit 2024. I made a presentation on the theme: Possible Olfactory Meta-communication: A challenge of communication depicted in Japanese literature The Tale of Genji.
It was about what I wrote in Alabastron (the journal just released by IAO), about the scents that appear in The Tale of Genji and how people then communicated about / with them. I recreated the fragrances following the recipes inherited over 1000 years, and then made a small performance for the audience, challenging them if they could pick up a meta meaning minded in the scent. Why The Tale of Genji? It is not because the recipe is old, nor because it makes you proud to be Japanese. The author here expresses the subtleties of the hearts of men and women, which can be found anywhere, as a ‘scent, which the reader then reads (or imagines). It shows a sophisticated meta-communication that could almost be described as a form of art.
In performing, I was assisted by my colleagues from the Scent Culture Institute Japan, which I initiated. I think that as well as creating an elegant fragrance on stage, they were able to sell their faces at once
We’ve just launched a website now, which we aim to provide various information around Japanese scent culture, from classic to modern, from art to sightseeing – hope we can be at your help when you come to Japan: www.scentculture.org
Special thanks to: Kaori Egashira Ayana Ishigahara
Photos and videos: João Inocêncio Gomes for Institute for Art and Olfaction Peter de Coupere