Using Smells in Museums Event (ONLINE)

California Time: 9:00am-12:30pm PDT
London Time: 5:00pm-8:30pm BST
Amsterdam Time: 6:00pm-9:30pm CEST

This international online speaker series brings together curators, educators, and museum practitioners who are working with scent as an interpretive tool in museums, cultural attractions, and heritage institutions. The program focuses specifically on scent as museum interpretation and cultural education, rather than perfumery or olfactory art practice.

This is a program about discovery, connecting practitioners, and learning, bringing forward work that is innovative, grounded, and sometimes lesser known. A central intention of this event is to shine a light on work that deserves wider recognition in the field, with some of it not yet widely visible in mainstream conversations. The speakers were selected to represent a range of geographies, institution types, and approaches; their individual insights prove invaluable.

Each speaker will share how their own project was developed, the practical and institutional realities of working with scent in public spaces, the challenges, and what they learned along the way. There will be dedicated periods for live Q&A, giving attendees the opportunity to ask questions and engage directly with the speakers.

Whether you are new to olfactory interpretation or already working in the field, this event is designed to expand your understanding of what scent-based museum practice looks like across different contexts, collections, and communities.

Co-organized by Sofia Collette Ehrich (The Olfactory Contractor) and Liam R. Findlay (International Themed Smell Day). Hosted by the Fragrance Alliance Network. 

This event is part of International Themed Smell Day (July 11) – a global, non-commercial celebration of olfactory storytelling. Participants are encouraged to share their own projects and themed smell memories using #InternationalThemedSmellDay.

The event will be recorded and shared with all registered attendees and speakers. 

Full program and list of speakers available at the bottom of this page.

Marie Clapot (New York, USA)
Ailsa Easton (UK)
Sofia Collette Ehrich (The Olfactory Contractor, California, USA
Liam R. Findlay (AromaPrime, UK)
Lauren Henning (The Tall Ship, Glenlee, Glasgow, UK)
Andreas Keller (Olfactory Art Keller, New York, USA)
Antje Kiewell (Artphilia, UK)
Margot Kopera (Maryland Center for History & Culture, Maryland, USA)
Natalia Kucirkova (University of Stavanger, Norway)
Charlotte Mikkelborg (Picture This Productions, UK)
Jessica Murphy (Independent Researcher, New York, US)
Nezka Pfeifer (Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri, USA)
Gus Romero (Fragrance Alliance Network, New York, USA)