A Monthly Update from The Olfactory Contractor
Hello and Welcome,
If you are new here—thank you for joining The Olfactory Contractor. I am so glad you have joined this growing community of museum professionals, educators, artists, and researchers interested in scent, storytelling, and a multisensory approach to cultural heritage.
This newsletter is a space where I share recent writing, projects, and learning opportunities related to the Olfactory Contractor. Below is a short roundup of what I have been working on this month, along with an update on upcoming courses.
I am gradually moving away from Substack, so please note that full future newsletters will soon not be posted there nor on my website—subscribing ensures these updates land directly in your inbox. Subscribe to future newsletters here.
Updates
It has been a very busy month here, as we taught the Scent & Culture Series: An Online Intensive Series on Methods of Olfactory Storytelling taught in collaboration with the Fragrance Alliance Network for 3 consecutive Saturdays in March! We had professionals join us from all over and it turned out to be a successful turn out. We will be scheduling courses in the future soon so keep your eye out for that.
The Olfactory Contractor also traveled to Baltimore, Maryland this month to open our very first collaborative exhibition: Wayfinders – Making Sense of Our World which officially opened on the 26th of March at the Maryland Center for History and Culture. At this exhibition, visitors are invited to look, smell, listen and touch to discover the histories of various wayfinders of Maryland. Stay tuned for a debriefing of the trip which will come next month!
From the Blog: This Month’s Writing
This month, I published several new posts exploring how scent can function as an intentional interpretive medium in cultural spaces.
I started the month with the blog post A Multisensory Past) What is Olfactory Heritage? In this post, I defined the field of Olfactory Heritage, which refers to the smells, practices, and any olfactory knowledge culturally meaningful to communities—past and present.
Next, I shared a recent episode of the Internet of Senses Institute Podcast. I had the pleasure of speaking with Leslie Kay, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Chicago and a member and former director of the Institute for Mind and Biology. Kay’s research highlights the importance of paying attention to our sense of smell, emphasizing how deeply olfaction is connected to brain health and the ways we make sense of our lives. Find that post here.
Courses & Teaching: Collaboration with the Fragrance Alliance Network
In case you missed the The Scent & Culture Series: An Intensive in Olfactory Storytelling this month, you can still sign up for our intensive in olfactory storytelling taking place on April 4th!
If you are looking for a more concise introduction to the topic of olfactory storytelling at a shorter time commitment, the Introduction to Olfactive Storytelling and Olfactory Museology (crash course) is for you! Sign up HERE.
Thank you again for being here and for your interest in olfactory storytelling. I’m looking forward to sharing more writing, case studies, and course announcements with you next month.
Make sure you subscribe for future newsletters here.
Warmly,
Sofia Collette Ehrich
Founder, The Olfactory Contractor
Questions? Interested in Learning More?
Do not hesitate to reach out via my contact page if you have questions.
Interested in learning more? Check out my blog post on Recommended Smell Culture Resources to dive deeper into the world of olfactory museology and become familiar with more trailblazers of this field.
