Scent is perhaps the most visceral and emotional of our senses. A single waft of fragrance can spark memories, influence moods, and transport us to forgotten times and places. Perfume, derived from the Latin per fumum (“through smoke”), has an extensive cultural history dating back thousands of years. Across diverse civilizations, perfumes have carried spiritual symbolism, marked social status, defined gender roles, and served as conduits for self-expression.
This rich heritage is beautifully showcased in the recent exhibition “Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through Contemporary Scent” at London’s Somerset House. The exhibition provides an immersive olfactory experience, guiding visitors through pivotal developments in the art and science of perfumery. More than that, it offers a fascinating look at how perfume intersects with culture, reflecting our desires, values, and ideas about identity.
Smell is often considered the most primitive yet evocative of our senses. Scents hold remarkable power to spark memories, influence emotions, and transport us across time and space. The art of perfumery has long allowed us to bottle this power, creating fragrances that communicate cultural values, convey social standing, and enable self-expression.
From ancient spiritual traditions to the modern science of aromatherapy, perfumes have served many functions beyond their sweet smells. New exhibition “Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through Contemporary Scent” at London’s Somerset House provides an immersive exploration of perfume’s rich cultural legacy. The exhibition highlights perfumery as a complex artistic and scientific process, as well as a reflection of our changing social ideas about gender, identity, and spirituality.
This exhibition comes at a pivotal moment, as perfumery expands beyond its traditional cultural confines to embrace new notes, methods, and inspirations. Contemporary perfumers are pushing the boundaries of their art, drawing on diverse influences from molecular science to gender politics. Their creations reveal scent as a powerful medium for cultural commentary and social change.
By tracing perfume’s history, unraveling its sensory impact, and highlighting its cultural symbolism, the exhibition offers profound insight into this under-appreciated art form. For in many ways, perfume’s evolution mirrors that of human civilization, serving as a conduit for our most essential values.
The Art of Perfumery
Historical Background
The human impulse to adorn with fragrant oils and perfumes is ancient, dating back thousands of years. Archaeological evidence from sites in Egypt, China, and the Indus Valley confirms that primitive perfumery was already thriving in these early civilizations. Perfumes were concocted from natural botanicals like frankincense, myrrh, rose, and jasmine, often holding spiritual potency and symbolic meaning.
In ancient Egypt, perfumes were integral to cultural and religious practices. Used in rituals, embalming, and temple offerings, perfume connected the earthly and divine realms. In ancient China and India, aroma had vital importance in spiritual life. Frankincense, sandalwood, and citrus oils scented religious ceremonies, calmed the senses during meditation, and promoted balance between mind and body.
The modern perfume industry has its origins in medieval Arabia. Early chemists known as “parfumiers” experimented with distillation methods for extracting plant oils and created the first alcohol-based perfumes. In the Islamic world, perfume was closely associated with cleanliness and spirituality. Rose- and orange blossom-scented waters were used for ritual ablutions.
When the perfumer’s art spread to Renaissance Europe, it took on more worldly functions. For the wealthy, custom-blended fragrances became symbols of luxury and status. Perfumed gloves and folding fans allowed aristocratic women to exude an aura of refinement. As global trade expanded, new exotic ingredients like musk, ambergris, and patchouli sparked intense interest.
The Creative Process
Creating a fine perfume is a multifaceted artistic process requiring creativity, technical skill, and cultural literacy. The “nose” or perfumer begins by selecting ingredients that evoke the desired mood, impression, and motifs of the scent. Hundreds of natural and synthetic aromachemicals provide an olfactory palette of top, middle, and base notes.
The perfumer experiments with various combinations, much like an artist mixing pigments on a palette. A perfume’s “accord” describes the overall aroma profile created by its harmonizing notes. Accords may convey specific places, eras, or moods, like “English garden” or “film noir.”
Once perfected, the fragrance is handed to technicians who stabilize and dilute the concentrate. It undergoes extensive consumer testing and regulatory review before bottling.
The packaging itself is an extension of the perfumer’s artistry. Bottle designs reflect brand identity and reinforce marketing themes. For luxury perfumes, every sensory detail aims to evoke luxury, passion, and sophistication in the consumer.
The Cultural Role of Perfume
As a manufactured product, perfume is also inevitably shaped by cultural forces. Changing values, ideas, and aesthetics leave their imprint on fragrance trends. The clean citrus colognes popular in the Victorian era, for example, expressed the values of propriety and purity. Sweet floral scents later came to embody ultra-feminine glamour and indulgence.
On a deeper level, the transcendent nature of scent makes perfume an influential cultural medium. Throughout history, perfumes have served as symbols of ritual, status, and celebration across societies. They reflect how different cultures relate to pleasure, beauty, nature, and the divine. The evolution of perfume thus entwines with shifting cultural narratives about these concepts.
The Power of Scent
The Science of Smell
The physiological process that enables us to smell gives scent its direct channel to emotions and memories. When odor molecules enter the nasal passage, they bind to receptor cells which transmit signals along the olfactory nerve to the brain’s limbic system. This region processes emotional and experiential memories, allowing smells to evoke visceral reactions.
Scents are decoded based on the precise combination and concentration of volatile compounds. The human nose can distinguish thousands of different smells from traces as minute as a few parts per billion. Researchers believe this evolutionary adaptation helped early humans identify food sources, dangers, and mates.
Smell is closely integrated with the other senses, influencing how we perceive flavor, visual environments, and tactile sensations. Unlike the visual system, the olfactory system has direct links to the hippocampus and amygdala, seat of emotion and memory. This explains scent’s uncanny ability to trigger vivid recollections and feelings.
Psychological & Emotional Effects
Because smells map so directly to emotional processing in the brain, they can shape moods, influence behaviors, and cue memories. Studies confirm that scents modulate alertness, anxiety, stress, and arousal. Pleasant, calming fragrances may induce relaxation, while pungent scents tend to stimulate and energize.
Scent preference is somewhat subjective, influenced by culture, experience, and context. But certain aromas carry universal effects. Mint and citrus are invigorating, evoking freshness and clarity. Sweet floral notes convey feminine allure, while musky, woody oils suggest masculinity. Warm spices like vanilla elicit comfort and nostalgia.
On a social level, scents also act as powerful nonverbal cues, signaling attractiveness, kinship, social status, and group belonging. Scent plays an important role in attraction and human bonding. An individual’s natural scent is linked to genetic compatibility and immune response.
Therapeutic Applications
Because of its mind-body effects, fragrance has been used cross-culturally in healing modalities. The ancient practice of aromatherapy utilizes distilled plant oils to promote wellbeing. Essential oil compounds interact with hormones, neurotransmitters, and the immune system to reduce inflammation, ease anxiety, and stimulate cell regeneration.
Modern research confirms the clinical efficacy of aromatherapy for reducing nausea, pain, and stress. Occupational therapists often incorporate fragrance into treatment, exploiting its ability to enhance cognition, mood, and memory. Scent has even been used to help dementia patients recall personal memories and improve quality of life.
Beyond medicine, purposeful use of scent contributes to psychological health. Aromas that elicit positive nostalgia and activation of the parasympathetic nervous system can combat stress and anxiety. On a social level, fragrance rituals serve to strengthen communal bonds and affirm collective identity.
Cultural Perspectives on Perfume
Symbolic Meanings
As a crafted substance with the power to alter mood and perception, perfume has carried sacred symbolism across many cultures. For the ancient Egyptians, it embodied the essence of divinity. In their temples, braziers burned resins, gums, and flowers as divine offerings. The word “perfume” itself derives from the Latin per fumum, “through smoke,” reflecting this spiritual conception.
In China, incense containing healing camphor and magnolia was used to sanctify dwellings and tombs. For Hindus, sandalwood and flower oils fulfilled religious purposes, anointing idols, funeral pyres, and guests of honor. Islamic perfumery intertwined with the sacred ablutions and reverence for purity.
Even in modern secular society, remnants of this mystical aura persist in perfume advertising. Fragrance names often allude to exoticism, sanctity, and ancient secrets. The crystal bottle or ornate flacon implies something precious to be cherished. Romantic imagery invests perfume with magical sensuality and promise.
Cultural Practices
In many cultures, perfumes have been woven into significant social practices and rituals. For ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, fragrant oils anointed brides, purified priests, and sanctified death. The Islamic prophet Mohammed endorsed scent as part of cleanliness and hospitality, scenting his head, beard, clothes, and home.
In Europe and Asia, scented powders, soaps, and cosmetics were integral to grooming rituals surrounding birth, marriage, and coming-of-age. Incense burned in shrines and temples marked festivals and rites of passage. Fragrant preparations thus upheld cultural order through their association with tradition and propriety.
Today, though less ceremonial, perfume remains embedded in social institutions. Its use signals conformity to expected etiquette and respectability in many contexts. Shared fragrance rituals like church services and holiday meals reinforce cultural cohesion. On a personal level, scent still carries associations of care, dignity, and self-respect.
Themes in Art & Literature
The antiquity and mystique of perfume have made it a popular subject for poets and artists over the centuries. One of the earliest known perfume “recipes” appears in a Sumerian tablet from 1200 BC. The Old Testament describes the high priest Aaron anointing himself with aromatic ointments, indicating their spiritual potency.
Poetical allusions to perfume abound in Arabic and Persian literature, where scented oils symbolized love and paradise. 17th century perfume guides compared constructing a perfume to composing music or poetry. Victorian novels used detailed fragrance descriptions to convey sensuality and exoticism.
Scent motifs persist in modern works, though often with critique of the industry’s commercial focus on seduction and illusion. Contemporary olfactory art pushes boundaries by making scent itself the medium. Artists like Sissel Tolass install living flowers or diffusers to create multidimensional fragrance experiences.
Perfume and Gender
Gendered Fragrances
Throughout much of history, perfume has been intrinsically gendered. Ancient Egyptian women were renowned for their signature kyphi perfume of sweet resin, while Greek men favored bracing thyme and rosemary. In Europe, floral scents like violet and gardenia typified feminine refinement. Masculine styles leaned toward dry spices and citrus zest.
This binary was reinforced by 20th century marketing. Advertisers played on gender insecurities, assuring men that the right cologne conveyed virility and confidence. Women’s scents promised allure, romance, and the ability to captivate men. Floral-fruit-musk compositions became the olfactory essence of hyper-femininity.
These marketing tropes not only reflected but shaped social gender norms. Scent helped define identity in an era when rigid roles were destabilizing. Using “masculine” or “feminine” perfumes affirmed one’s sense of gendered self.
Toward Androgyny
As cultural notions of gender have evolved, attitudes toward perfume have shifted. Unisex fragrances of the 1960s and 70s challenged the assumption that scent must be gender-coded. Brands like Calvin Klein and CK One pioneered minimalist, ambiguous scents whose appeal crossed demographics.
Many contemporary perfumes defy gender boundaries, merging notes like florals and vanilla once relegated to women’s scents. Perfumers say they aim to create scents that capture universal human traits – freshness, sweetness, warmth – rather than gender signifiers.
The trend parallels changing social mores around identity fluidity, nonconformity, and gender as a personal construct. As cultural constraints soften, scents are becoming more reflective of inner character rather than prescribed gender codes.
“Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through Contemporary Scent”
Overview
This groundbreaking exhibition at Somerset House pioneers a multisensory, thematic approach to exploring perfume’s cultural footprint. Visitors are transported along a scenic “River of Scent” sectioned into conceptual zones like “Forest”, “Library”, and “Palace.”
Each zone utilizes visuals, sounds, textures, and aromas to immerse guests in distinct fragrance environments. Guided smelling stations allow you to lift bell jars releasing bespoke perfumes, each representing a cultural or historical motif.
Notable Creations
Some of the exhibition’s standout scents are showcased in sculptural flacons, giving philosophy and art a starring role. Jeweler Arik Levy’s “Tears of God” is a golden teardrop-shaped bottle with woody notes evoking sacred temple incense. For Levy, perfume symbolizes “the passage between the visible and invisible.”
French chemist-turned-artist Marc vom Ende conceived marine cologne “Pearls” to reflect the origins of life. Its ambergris, ozone and seaweed notes capture the primitivism of the ocean. Vom Ende describes fragrance as the intersection of science, nature, and imagination.
Other featured scents include a peppery ink fragrancing summoning an old library, a milky lavender scent bottled in a breast-shaped flacon, and a green crushed leaf accord presented in a fractured glass globe, contrasting nature’s perfection and human imperfection.
Experience and Impact
Rather than displaying perfumes chronologically or by brand, this exhibition’s immersive world lets you experience scent’s intimate influence. Moving through zones conjuring varied times and places, you notice yourpulse and perceptions shift in response to the smellscape.
Unexpected pairings, textures, and contexts challenge your expectations, revealing facets of fragrance you overlook in daily life. You become vividly aware of scent’s emotional potency. Leaving the experience, you noticefragrances around you more acutely, newly attuned to their effect and associations.
Conclusion
Key Takeaways
This exhibition provides a window into perfume as far more than a toiletry or beauty product. It highlights perfumery as an ancient art form grounded in culture, spirituality, and the alchemy of the senses. It places perfume in a larger social context, as both reflecting and shaping gender dynamics.
And it awakens us to scent as a powerful stimulus that subliminally shapes mood, memory, and behavior. Only through deliberately cultivating our “olfactory intelligence” can we appreciate fragrance in its full complexity.
Understanding Through Our Senses
At its heart, perfume is about translation – translating ideas, moods, and memories into sensory language. The exhibition offers a reminder that our understanding of the world is mediated through sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell.
By engaging multiple senses, the curators provide a richer impression of how perfume permeates culture and consciousness. Our senses define our reality. Exhibitions like this can make us more attuned to that relationship, sharpening our perceptions.
The Future of Perfumery
This exhibition captures perfumery at a crossroads between tradition and innovation. While respecting the art’s heritage, contemporary perfumes are expanding beyond classic categories and motifs.
The future promises more collaborative, multisensory, and interactive fragrance experiences. Scent may be liberated from its role as a commodity and return to its artistic and spiritual roots. As cultural perspectives evolve, perfume will continue to reflect – and influence – society’s self-conception.
