#43: In this episode, Frauke sits down with art and sensory historian Caro Verbeek to discuss what riches we can learn from smelling the past. Caro takes us through her personal scent journey growing up in the Netherlands and reveals the moment she knew that being a smell historian was what she was meant to do. She explains the role that historical smells can play in helping us to understand the past in new ways, and argues how smell is just as much a part of our heritage as music (hearing) and art (seeing). She explains why it's important to understand smells in history, and how we can apply smelling to evoke a more contextual understanding of history in museums, including for the visually and olfactory impaired. Caro reveals the most interesting, and surprising, historical smells she's encountered, and shares her experience of smelling Cleopatra's famous perfume Mendesian. She also shares information about the exciting new project, Odeuropa, she's taking part in which aims, among other things, to recognize, safeguard, present, and promote olfactory heritage. This episode will leave you with new perspectives, and wanting you to explore the past through the nose. 

Check out Caro's blog Futurist Scents.

Watch Caro's Ted Talk "Inhaling history and smelling the future."

Learn more about the Odeuropa Project. 

Read Caro's New York Times article "What Does History Smell Like?"

Connect with Caro on social media:

Instagram

Twitter

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