Ancient Scents: Roman Aromas
April through September, 2017
Getty Villa, Malibu, CA.
A series of workshops and an installation at Getty Villa, exploring ancient uses of scent.
The IAO teamed up with the Getty in a two-part public educational program for the summer of 2017. The first part – an interactive scent-making experience simply called ‘Making Ancient Perfumes’ – launched in April, 2017 and ended at the end of September, 2017.
We launched the second part of this collaboration 0n June 9, 2017, taking the form of a permanent smelling experience created for the Getty Villa.
The experience features eight unexpected and historically accurate scents from Ancient Rome, housed in hand-made pots inspired by the Villa’s collection of ancient glassware and pottery. Each pot contains a scent relating to a historically-accurate olfactory aspect of every day Roman life, from condiments to laundry detergent to sweaty togas.
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TEAM
This installation was produced by Saskia Wilson-Brown for the Institute for Art and Olfaction
In collaboration with (and for) Chelsea Hogan and Cathy Carpenter at the Getty Villa, and the following people:
Kamil Beski
for Beski Projekts
Kamil Beski oversaw construction, installation, and production of the scent dissemination mechanism
Wayne Perry
for Wayne Perry Art
Wayne Perry created the custom ceramics for the project
Neal Harris
for Scent Events
Scent Events created the scent beads used in the ceramic pots
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VISIT
This program is free with Getty Villa attendance
Daily through October, 2017.
This installation was extended, for the indefinite future. Go visit!
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MAKING ANCIENT SCENTS WORKSHOPS – SUMMER 2017
The IAO teamed up with the Getty to develop and implement a historically-accurate walk-up perfume-making experience, as part of Getty Villa’s summer-long ‘Roman Holidays’ program.
Open to all Getty Villa visitors, join us as we grind and pipette our way to creating custom vials of ancient perfume- in one of the most stunning settings in Los Angeles. We will use materials just like ancient perfumers did, and every participant leaves with their own vial.
The workshop on April 1 + April 15 is led by IAO director Saskia Wilson-Brown. Further workshops in April are led by Smelly Vials Perfume Club members Kendra Gaeta and Jeffrey Paul. Subsequent workshops are led by Getty docents.
This program is free with Getty Villa attendance
The program took place every saturday and sunday through August
11am to 3pm
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ROMAN HOLIDAYS
You won’t need a passport to travel back in time at the Roman Holidays celebration this spring and summer. Discover the sights (and smells!) of ancient Rome, offer your prayers to Venus, read your future in a sheep’s liver, and enjoy live musical and comedy performances by the historically hysterical Troubadour Theater Company.