Four olfactory workshops inspired by a 16th century painting

I was invited by the Musée du Colombier in Alès (France) to conduct four perfume creation workshops as part of the mediation component around the sense of smell "Le Nez dans la collection et le (bon) goût du Musée".

After a first workshop in October 2024 aimed at adults, I led a second workshop in recent days co-commissioned by the Musée du Colombier and Le Cratère | Scène Nationale d'Alès to which a group of women from the association L'Ecole sans Frontières d'Alès en Cévennes was invited, which helps people living in France but who do not have knowledge of the culture and language of the country.

As a traveler, I was delighted to share my passions for perfume and art with women from Syria, Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Algeria and Morocco.

The workshop consisted of each participant creating their own perfume inspired by the artwork Henri de Navarre at the Court of Charles IX or Henri de Navarre at the Court of Catherine de Medici by the painter Aimée Brune-Pagès (1803-1866), which is part of the permanent collection of the Musée du Colombier.

The work, that inspired the workshop, was presented to the group by members of the Musée du Colombier and Le Cratère.

Then we went to the workshop room where each participant had at her disposal an image of the work, ten ingredients, a formulation sheet and all the material necessary for weighing.

We all smelt together the available ingredients.

Then it was time to weigh the first, second and third trial.

At the end of the workshop, each participant chose her favorite trial and left with a 15ml spray bottle of her own creation I weighed with my precision scale.

The next workshops on February 26 and March 2, 2025 are apparently already full. What a pleasure to see so much interest!