Olfactory Dimension of Cultural Integration

Constructing a reflective space, a conversation with the memory, this work is an expression of the olfactory dimension of cultural integration. It takes the form of a multisensory installation composed of narratives from lived experiences and research informed by practitioners working on the themes of identity and migration. Exploring cultural identity through the sensory experience of smell, this work addresses personal encounters with cultural stereotypes about the olfactory profiles associated with a person’s ethnicity. It challenges Western norms and offers a new perspective for a deeper understanding of cultural diversity.

Research Questions

1. Should individuals go beyond their comfort zones and adapt their lifestyles to mitigate culturally different olfactory profiles? Or should there be a broader acceptance and celebration of this diversity in a multicultural society?

2. In a time when migration is one of the most important experiences of one’s growth, how do people cultivate, negotiate, nurture and maintain an identity?

personal narratives behind smellscapes

trying to fit in this white canvas, her braids represent her identity which is much stronger to be contained in the four edges and is flowing out similar to the smells escaping the walls and windows of houses...

the braids and the canvas are infused with a smell of velvet rose ‘gulab’, soft, delicate and the most common scent in Indian household found in the form of rose water often applied on the skin in the morning.

the room is filled with the strong smell of ground coffee to symbolize a globalised world coffee being the most familiar and ‘appropriate’ smell is to evoke memories of a social setting.

Smell of tea infused in muslin fabric

Target Audience

A space for ‘migrants of identity’ to relive and celebrate their lost identities and for others to understand the significance of these sensory profiles and accept this broader dimension of cultural integration and diversity.

Themes

This work engages with themes of given or constructed identity and cultural integration. It brings together understanding of the term ‘identity’ from the contexts of- personal authenticity through autobiographical memories and cultural anthropology. It looks through the postcolonial discourse and lived experiences to communicate the olfactory dimension of cultural integration.

Olfaction as a Mode of Communication

Olfactory communication has the ability to shift the role of the audience from being a passive to an active player, creating their own journey through the experience. It challenges the traditional modes of perception and engages the audience in a more multisensory and immersive way. Although the narratives behind this work are deeply personal and come from lived experiences, their mode of communication smells, have a power to speak to the memory to evoke nostalgia and let the participant relive their own experiences, the lost identities. To form this inside out connection with the audience, I take inspiration from Anicka Yi’s work where she explores the ideas of identity politics in a post-occupy climate. She examines how visual, olfactory, gustatory, and auditory ‘flavours’ elicit sense memories and longing, and possess cultural and economic value.

 I have chosen scent to be the primary sense to accomplish this integration of self because scents evoke memories from childhood, reminiscent of a time when one used to envision their ideal self. The installation draws comparison on two levels personal by reflecting upon one's current and lost identities, and social by comparing the appropriateness of smells from different cultures.

 This work aims to reintegrate scent into one's life to experience the vitality it offers.