Qatar America Institute for Culture (QAIC)
Doha, Qatar, Washington D.C., United States
March and October, 2023
The Institute for Art and Olfaction and Qatar America Institute for Culture collaborated on a series of events relating to the history of perfumery in Qatar. These took the form of a delegation to Qatar, a series of publications, an episode of the Perfume on the Radio podcast, and a two-day symposium exploring fragrance through workshops, experiences and talks.
Delegates:
Jawad Khawaja (Oudimentary)
Micah Anderson (Oudimentary)
Razwan Ul-Haq (Calligrapher)
Regina Mamou (Artist)
Rubia Chaudri (Perfumer)
Saskia Wilson-Brown (IAO founder/director)
Fragrance Symposium at Impart Summit
October 21 + 22, 2023
at Qatar America Institute for Culture (QAIC)
Washington DC
As part of our ongoing collaboration with Qatar America Institute for Culture , the Institute for Art and Olfaction co-presented a fragrance symposium.
Over two days, the symposium drew from the experience and learning that was gained during a delegation to Qatar in March 2023, and served to showcase how the delegates’ experience in Qatar impacted their practices. The summit took the form of talks, experiences and workshops, presented by the delegates.
Photo: Materials lined up for a blending session
Credit: QAIC
+ Read about it on QAIC website
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Programs and talks
Experiencing Oud
With Micah Anderson (Oudimentary)
Moderated by Saskia Wilson-Brown
Micah Anderson presents a scent-enlivened experience that takes for its topic the historical and spiritual practice of burning aromatics. Rooted in their experiences in Qatar – as well as in Micah’s decades-long dive into scent’s relation to spirituality, meditation, and the embodied self – this reflective session will present several smell experiences with an emphasis on Oud – or Aloeswood – an aromatic, resinous heartwood that is found in trees from the Aquilaria genus nature to Southeast Asia. Join us for an overview of the history, science, and culture of aloeswood as a psycho-spiritual aid, enlivened by smell experiences that will provide attendees with an opportunity to reflect on the meaning and impact of scent.
Photo: Micah Anderson speaks about oud, as Saskia Wilson-Brown watches on.
Credit: QAIC
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Qur’anic Garden Perfume workshop
with Rubia Chaudri
Rubia Chaudri leads a workshop exploring the scents of the Qur’anic Botanic Garden based in Education City, Doha. Discussing and smelling some of the plants mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH), she will then demonstrate how these can combine for perfumery, using her perfume Nomad Sun as a teaching tool. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about important historic aromatics, as well as gain a first insight into the practice of making perfume.
Photo: Rubia Chaudri leads a blending session
Credit: IAO
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Arabic Calligraphy workshop
with Razwan Ul-Haq
Traditional Arabic Calligraphy has a connection with perfumes. In 2021, Razwan Ul-Haq explored this connection through an Arts Council England Project, where he researched how perfume could be embedded in his traditional and contemporary calligraphic work. In this workshop, Razwan will introduce the participants to Arabic Calligraphy in the Nastaliq script. Participants will use hand-mixed ink and bamboo pens in order to engage with or respond to a selection of important natural perfume materials.
Photo: Razwan Ul-Haq prepares pigment for calligraphic use.
Credit: QAIC
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Tincturing for Artists workshop
with Regina Mamou
Regina Mamou’s art practice incorporates materials and their scents, and is often expressed through the act of aromatic preservation. She collects site-specific and puts them through this historic process of tincturing them, so that the aromatic components may be retained and stored. In this intimate discussion and workshop, Regina shares her work, and how scent has impacted her art practice. Using aromatic materials that she collected in Qatar, she will explain the process of tincturing, and the impact of the aromatic traces left by places, people, and materials.
Photo: Regina Mamou explains the tincturing apparatus.
Credit: IAO
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Five Smells That Shaped Us
with Saskia Wilson-Brown
The history of perfumery is deeply intertwined with the history of humanity, commingling in a reciprocal narrative of mutual expression. Throughout recorded history, we find evidence that scent has helped humans communicate their relationship to the divine, to heal, to seduce, to trade, to express power, and so much more. In this smell-enlivened talk, Saskia Wilson-Brown draws from her deep research into historic and contemporary practices with scent as well as her experience in Qatar to present five important aromatics that have impacted global human expression and belief. Each aromatic will serve as a springboard for a discussion about perfume history, art, commerce, and more.
Photo: Saskia Wilson-Brown shares an aromatic material
Credit: QAIC
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Journeys to Qatar panel
with all delegates
Delegates Micah Anderson, Rubia Chaudri, Regina Mamou, Razwan Ul-Haq, and Saskia Wilson-Brown join Qatar America Institute of Culture to recount their experiences as part of QAIC’s 2023 Olfactory Delegation to Qatar in March of 2023. In this panel, the delegates will reflect on what they learned in Qatar and how their experience there informs their artistic and creative practices, today. They will also share anecdotes and learnings about olfactory culture, as they experienced it. Curious minds and questions welcomed!
Photo: Micah Anderson, Razwan Ul-Haq, Rubia Chaudri, Regina Mamou and Saskia Wilson-Brown smile before the panel.
Credit: IAO
Delegation to Qatar
In March 2023 the IAO and QAIC collaborated on a delegation to Qatar, where six delegates visited companies and organziations related to perfumery in Doha.
The collaboration resulted in the publishing of media, including an article, blog posts and more.
Read more:
+ Field notes from Qatar: Qur’anic Botanic Gardens – read here
+ Field notes from Qatar: Perfume Museum – read here
+ A2Q Magazine: Article about the experience – read here
About QAIC
Creating, curating, and executing programs & research that amplify the prominence of art & culture from America, Qatar, and the Arab & Islamic worlds.
Founded in 2017, the Qatar America Institute for Culture (QAIC) is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated in Washington, DC, USA.