scent and local studies

Earlier this year, as part of the Sydney Festival there was an exhibition called Scent of Sydney by Cat Jones.  People had been interviewed, and from their interviews, scents were created.  Under each ceramic cup there were ashes which could be smelled.


 It combined oral history and smell, as you could listen to each recording, where people talked about places, and people, and the smells associated with these memories.  Then you could smell something which was evocative of this.  It struck me as a very interesting oral history project, and also as a powerful way of connecting to the stories, as you tried to identify the various elements of each combined scent.  This triggered memories as well. It was a very powerful combination of local studies and art.  You can read more about it here.