Geur and paintings, at first glance these seem to have little to do with each other. But nothing could be further from the truth! Fragrance provides an extra and unmissable experience. And it can be of great added value in museums, bringing paintings to life! Curious how? And why this is smart? Read all about it in this blog.
These museums have gone before you
A few museums are already using the power of scent, such as the Van Abbemuseum. Here they bring together multiple senses to a work of art not only through smell, but also through ambient sounds and tactile materials. They have applied this to works of art from 1900 to the present. But older specimens also benefit from more sensory stimuli. For example, The Mauritshuis allowed its visitors to experience what it smelled like in the 17th century. Through appropriate scents, the paintings were brought to life. A smart choice if you ask us! Why
Artworks brought to life
Vega-Gómez et al. (2017) conducted research on the effects of scent in museums. For example, at the González Santana Museum, they misted scent in three different rooms for four weeks. The three rooms each had their own theme and each contained several artworks related to the particular theme. The first room that was scented was to represent a bourgeois dressing room from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The scent sprayed there was a "Fresh Linen scent". For the second room, with the theme of a working-class family's kitchen, they used the scent "Sweet Apple pie". The third room used for the research was themed as a barbershop from the late nineteenth century. This was filled with the scent of "Aftershave."
The researchers had two groups of people visit the three rooms. One group did so when scent was diffused. The other group visited the rooms without added scent. Both groups were asked several questions after visiting the museum. These were about how they experienced the exhibit, how they rated the overall museum and whether they planned to return in the future. And what turns out? Scent really does deliver!
Smell actually improved their appreciation of the exhibition and the art objects. In addition, the ambiance in the entire museum was rated higher. And the visitors who experienced the exhibition with scent had a greater desire to return. Thus, stimulating the sense of smell clearly produces favorable results. If that doesn't pay off!
Experience boost is widely applicable
Because even though museums are not commercial, they obviously need to continue to attract visitors. And scent helps with that. So the love of art can last for generations to come! But of course this experience boost applies to many more concepts than just works of art in museums. Wondering what we can do to positively influence your environment or objects?