Scent of a Museum

SINCE the Museum of Arts and Design opened in September 2008 on Columbus Circle in New York, it has sought to engage three senses, with shows, programs and hands-on workshops. Last December came word that the museum would soon go for a fourth by founding a department of olfactory art. Heading it is Chandler Burr, the author of “The Emperor of Scent” (2003), who wrote about perfume for The New York Times from 2006 to 2010.Mr. Burr’s first exhibit, “The Art of Scent: 1889-2011,” is to open in November. It will trace the evolution of modern perfume, from Aimé Guerlain’s Jicky (1889), among the first to use synthetic ingredients, through midcentury classics like Edmond Roudnitska’s Diorama (1949), which Mr. Burr calls “one of the greatest Abstract Expressionist perfumes in the world,” to several contemporary fragrances. Unlike typical perfume displays, which make lavish use of bottles and packaging, this installation, in a Minimalist space designed by the architect Toshiko Mori, will feature only sound and scent, dispersed by diffusion machines — used in the perfume industry to atomize a controlled amount of fragrance into the air. (clique aqui para ler o artigo e a entrevista completa com Mr. Burr)