Summer School in Syros, Greece
With Spyros Drosopoulos
July 2 to 6, 2018
Join us on the picturesque Greek island of Syros from July 2 to July 6, 2018, and enjoy five full days of perfume education led by independent perfumer and scientist Spyros Drosopoulos, in a fully stocked independent scent laboratory.
+ THIS PROGRAM IS SOLD OUT
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Institute for Art and Olfaction is pleased to team up with Greek/Dutch perfumer Spyros Drosopoulos to offer a five day intensive; an introduction to perfumery, science, formulating, and – of course – all the materials and tips.
The comprehensive overview of technical perfumery is geared to beginner and intermediate independent practitioners with scent, and will help you understand the basics of blending while enhancing your existing practice with no-nonsense technical knowledge. This is designed to help independent perfumers kick their levels up a notch, and to help beginners take the dive into scent-making as a creative practice. Just the facts, ma’am!
Mainly, it will enhance your artisan, independent or experimental scent practice by showing you how to professionalize your work, while avoiding reliance on those omnipresent pre-fabricated bases.
Over five days, you will learn (or re-learn) the basics and get a sense of some of the special tricks you can use to deploy your own compositional prowess, and – ultimately – rely on your own skills for a greater adeptness in formulating.
Also, you’ll be on a Greek island in early summer, making perfume with new friends from all over the world.
Sold? Good! Join us.
THE EXPERIENCE
This five day intensive course will have a maximum of 14 students, who will be flying in from all over the world. When we’re not stretching our grey matter with technical training, we will be flexing our blending muscles in afternoon hands-on blending sessions. Each day, in fact, will present a perfect balance of lecture and practice.
But there’s more to the experience than that. Our generous three hour lunch breaks will allow students to explore the island, take luxurious naps, lounge at a taverna, or catch up on their reading. And after the course is over and we’ve tearfully said our goodbyes, we will also recommend some excursions (extra credit?) for the curious: The rose and saffron fields in Kozani in the northwest of Greece, the mastic villages in Chios island… Both present excellent secondary trips for perfume aficionados. Or, try a local excursion to a glass/ceramics production facility in Syros.
ABOUT SYROS
Syros is the capital island of the Cyclades, a group of islands in the Aegean Sea that also includes Mykonos and Santorini. In some ways Syros is a typical Greek island: Great food, sunshine, plenty of tanning opportunities and a very relaxed energy. However, the Catholic heritage of the island sets it apart, providing an interesting mix of Italian and Greek cultures. The main city on the island – Ermoupolis – is the administrative capital of the Cyclades. As the capital of the region, it enjoys a special cultural place, and provides much more (high) culture than other summer destinations: Art galleries, museums, and even a miniature version of Milan’s La Scala.
As far as food goes, you’re in for a real treat. The local food on Syros island is a culinary delight, and truly unique. Many authentic dishes can only be found on the island, and they are all delicious! Enjoy, for instance, the Syros specialty treat known as Loukoumi. A local version of every British schoolchild’s favorite dessert of mythology known as Turkish Delight, loukoumi comes in a full panoply of flavors and fillings. Or, perhaps you like nougat and pie? How about both, with a delicacy called Halvadopita, literally a pie, made of nougat. Yum!
We will hold our classes in the Ergatiko Kendro building, a historic building in the center of the Ermoupoli, Syros’ vibrant capital city (despite its population of only 11, 400 people).
This villa was built around 1850 in the typical style for a part of town famous for European influences (particularly Italian romanticism). The building is open to the public and is characterized by exceptional art frescoes and ceiling paintings depicting the letters and arts of ancient thinkers such as Homer, Archimedes, Sappho, and Apulius. Also impressive is the glass roof of the atrium, the all-round wall lining and the floors of colored marble slabs.
TRAVELING TO SYROS
Although Syros is easy to get to from Athens (a ferry leaves often from Athens’ main port of Piraeus) we recommend taking a few days before the week in Athens to get acclimatized to the balmy heat and – why not? – to see the sights.
There are ferries to Syros from Piraeus, the main port of Athens, every day. In summer season, there are also ferries to Syros from the port of Rafina, the closest port to Athens international airport. The ferry takes apprximately four hours, and costs anywhere from 25 to 40 euros per person.
+ More information about ferries to Syros
You can also fly from Athens airport to Syros with Sky Express
Within Syros, there is a wealth of accomodation options. We will send a list of recommended hotels and AirBnB listings upon signup.
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CURRICULUM
Spyros Drosopoulos has developed a curriculum that focuses on a mix of theory and practice, with information-dense mornings followed by hands-on afternoon blending sessions, in the dedicated perfume laboratory. The goal of the week is to create a fully fleshed formula, based on the learnings provided. We will assess, review and critique the formulas at the end of the week, all together.
Each day will be broken into three sessions:
+ A morning session (10:30am to 1:30pm): Information and theory in a lecture and discussion format.
+ An afternoon session (4pm to 8pm): Lab time, allowing students to put their learnings into practice in our stocked experimental laboratory and optional free blending time, where students can try out their own ideas, or work on their week-long project.
We chose to provide a longer lunch break to better allow students to enjoy the Syros lifestyle. Enjoy an extended Greek lunch in one of the island’s many restaurants and tavernas, or have a nap in the afternoon sun. It’s hot in the islands, after all, and our brains will need a break from all that information.
What follows is our approximate class breakdown, though some details may still change. Please feel free to email us with any specific questions.
At the end of the week, students will be presented with a certificate of completion.
Day 1 – Introduction to blending and overview of perfume
Morning: We will introduce the means and ways of working with scent, including lab safety and blending best practices. We will then review our materials for the week, while exploring the taxonomies and inter-relationality of traditional fragrance families. Last but not least we will begin to start planning our perfume brief, which we will be working on for the rest of the week.
Afternoon: Lab time! We will start working with the materials, and do some preliminary blends in response to creative exercises.
Evening: Optional free blend. Start working on your perfume formulas for your personal brief, spend some time smelling and getting to know the materials, or choose from one of our optional homework assignments.
Day 2 – Introduction to florals: Overview of accords
Morning: Most flowers smell great, however only a few of them return good oils or absolutes and in most cases those materials are very expensive and/or restricted due to allergens. Hence every perfumer must learn to make their own reconstructions. We will start with an overview of materials that are present in different flowers and how nature has organized them. We will discover common denominators between different flowers and how changing the proportions will give you a different flower. Also we will propose alternative materials to work with than the ones present in the actual flowers. As flowers are super important in perfumery we will spend two days studing them. Day 1 we will start with rose and the so called (light) green flowers.
Afternoon: Lab time! We will start working with the materials, and do some preliminary blends in response to creative exercises.
Evening: Optional free blend. Start working on your perfume formulas, spend some time smelling and getting to know the materials, or choose from one of our optional homework assignments.
Day 3 – Florals, continued: White flowers
Morning: We will continue our exploration of floral accords with a thorough exploration of the aromatic components of white flowers – including gardenia, magnolia, tuberose and jasmine.
Afternoon: Lab time! We will start working with the materials, and do some preliminary blends in response to creative exercises.
Evening: Optional free blend. Start working on your perfume formulas, spend some time smelling and getting to know the materials, or choose from one of our optional homework assignments.
Day 4 – Fruit Accords
Morning: After the flowers, fruits. As fruit extracts are so rare, a perfumer must often rely on his or her skill to make a good, fully-fleshed fruit reproduction. We will adopt the same approach we took with our flower friends, but apply it to a very different set of materials. As we explore the aromatics, we will experiment with how to vary proportions to create the effect of different fruits, how to funk up or tone down a fruit aroma, and much more. Specifically we will focus on red fruits, tropical fruits, apples, pears, peach, berries and a fig thrown in for good measure.
Afternoon: Lab time! We will start working with the materials, and do some preliminary blends in response to creative exercises.
Evening: Optional free blend. Start working on your perfume formulas, spend some time smelling and getting to know the materials, or choose from one of our optional homework assignments.
Day 5 – Special Effects and Textures
Morning: For our last day together, we will broach the most technical and some might say difficult part of a perfumer’s job. Many materials are incorporated into a formula not for their own odor but for the effect they can elicit on the overall result. Think of it like this: When you think of a rose, are you thinking of a light rose or a heavy powdery one? Do you smell the rose in a summer garden, or after the rain? Mastering these subtle details are as important to your perfume as your formula’s star players. The reason for this is simple: They give your perfume its character. On the last day we will study materials that will allow you to manipulate the texture of your perfume, its longevity, projection and much much more.
Afternoon: Lab time! We will start working with the materials, and do some preliminary blends in response to creative exercises.
Evening: Group assessments, and dinner!
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COST AND DETAILS
We are planning to present our summer school in different locations on a yearly basis, and are excited to launch it this year in the Greek Islands.
COST: USD $1,425.00 per attendee for 5 days (including all materials and one big meal)
DEPOSIT: There is a non-refundable deposit of USD $425.00 required to hold the spot.
PAYMENT OPTIONS: Check, credit card, silver ingots, priceless antiquities… We take it all.
FINE PRINT: The class fee does not include transport, hotel or meals. We will, however, provide snacks and drinks during class hours. We require a minimum of six people for the program to take place. There is a limit of 14 people in the course.
THIS PROGRAM IS SOLD OUT
YOUR NEW FRIENDS AND HOSTS
SPYROS DROSOPOULOS
After a career in science (and a PhD in neuroscience), Spyros Drosopoulos traded his research and teaching activities at the University of Amsterdam for a life as a perfumer and brand owner. At his eclectic Amsterdam studio, he creates perfumes for his own brand – Baruti – but has also done behind the scenes perfumes for corporate and private clients. Spyros enjoys collaborations with artists from other disciplines where he either performs live with them on stage (music/video) or provides scents for installations and theatrical plays. In August 2017, he partnered with Delush fragrances and is now the company’s in-house perfumer.
As a perfumer, Spyros relies on his scientific training in everything he approaches. Highly analytical and technically oriented, he prefers facts to marketing, and expands his knowledge daily through training exercises and – of course – hard work.
SASKIA WILSON-BROWN (FOR THE INSTITUTE FOR ART AND OLFACTION)
A veteran traveler, sharp producer, masterful run-on sentence writer, and unruffle-able ally to emergent perfumers and creative thinkers everywhere, Saskia will bring her considerable experience and smiling good humour to bear during the week by assisting Spyros in the lab while helping students master their materials. Saskia is the founder, director and number one production assistant at The Institute for Art and Olfaction, a 501(c)3 non-profit devoted to advancing public, artistic and experimental engagement with scent.
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Questions? Please contact us at hello@artandolfaction.com