Sensing Cultural Heritage: What is Olfactory Museology?
The Olfactory Contractor is both an educational platform and a resource for museums and cultural institutions seeking consulting support for olfactory storytelling. On this blog series, we explore key concepts and practices in the growing field of olfactory museology—helping to clarify terms, techniques, and ideas that may be unfamiliar. Drawing on five years of independent and collaborative research, this first post introduces Olfactory Museology, its principles, and its potential to transform how museums tell stories through scent.
Introduction
Museums have long privileged visual interpretation—objects behind glass, text on walls, digital displays, images meant to be seen rather than sensed. Yet cultural heritage is inherently multisensory. It is shaped not only by our visual culture and heritage, but also by our multisensory heritage: what we hear, taste, touch, and smell. Olfactory museology is a growing field that recognizes scent as a legitimate and powerful medium for interpretation, storytelling, and public engagement within museums and cultural institutions.
By my definition, Olfactory Museology is the study and investigation of museum practices that involve smell as a medium of storytelling. At its core, olfactory museology explores how scents can communicate knowledge, memory, and foster meaning making within heritage settings. Scents have the unique ability to evoke emotion, trigger embodied memories, and create intimate connections between people, places, and histories. When thoughtfully integrated into exhibitions and other public facing initiatives, scents can expand access to different types of heritage objects, challenge our visual bias, and offer new ways for visitors to engage with cultural narratives.
Beyond a Novelty: Scent as Interpretation
Olfactory museology is not about adding scent for spectacle or shock value. Rather, it is a deliberate interpretive practice grounded in research, historical inquiry, and thoughtful design. When used well, scent introduces a narrative layer that visual interpretation alone cannot reveal. It treats smell as a form of intangible cultural heritage—something worthy of preservation, critical interpretation, and curatorial care, just as visual culture has long been.
Sensory researcher Charles Spence addresses this distinction in his discussion of olfactory storytelling in cinema. In Scent and the Cinema (2020), Spence notes that scent is often used “pleonastically,” meaning it merely duplicates what is already visible on screen (drawing on Banes, 2001). He argues that the most successful applications of scent do more than reinforce what is seen; they reference the action or setting while simultaneously symbolizing something else—emotional, cultural, or conceptual. This same principle is central to olfactory museology: scent should deepen interpretation, not simply illustrate it.
The Three Practices of Olfactory Museology
In my experience, olfactory museology can be understood through three important actions: Identification, Interpretation and Execution.
Identification involves selecting an olfactory narrative—researching which olfactory storylines, environments, or materials are relevant to your collection, institution, event or story.
Interpretation focuses on how that scent is contextualized and communicated, ensuring it contributes meaningfully to the overall exhibition (or project) narrative. The effect of this interpretation could be to educate, evoke emotion, preserve cultural heritage, or create an immersive experience.
Execution translates your concept into an experience through how the scent and its interpretation is physically presented and communicated to the visitor.
Together, these three actions provide a practical framework for approaching olfactory museology with intention rather than novelty. By moving thoughtfully from identification to interpretation and execution, scent becomes a meaningful interpretive tool that enriches visitor experience and deepens cultural understanding.
Why Olfactory Museology Matters Now
As museums strive to become more inclusive, accessible, and experiential, olfactory museology offers a powerful way to engage visitors beyond the visual. By recognizing that knowledge is not only looked at or listened to but also embodied, museums can tell richer, more life-like stories—stories that linger long after a visit ends.
Drawing on years of research, practical experience, and collaborations with institutions in the U.S. and Europe, I work with museums to integrate scent thoughtfully and effectively into exhibitions, programs, and public experiences. From developing historically accurate scents to designing olfactory storytelling strategies and advising on visitor engagement and accessibility, my goal is to help cultural institutions create meaningful, multisensory connections that leave a lasting impression. Check out my services here and do not hesitate to reach out for an introductory call via my contact page.
Interested in learning more? Make sure to 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 the field.
I regularly teach courses about Olfactory Storytelling and Olfactory Museology with the Fragrance Alliance Network. Make sure to stay up to date with when I am teaching next or where my projects will be exhibited by joining my mailing list here.
