Scent is a tool for Education

Birth, Death, Rebirth is multi-sensory scent experience inspired by the connection between scent, emotion, and memory. The aim of the experience is to take the participant on a journey through the Birth (life in 18th century West Africa), Death (the Middle Passage), and Rebirth (life on the plantations of the Caribbean) of the ancestral bodies of the Caribbean Diaspora using scent. The scents created for this experience, formulated in collaboration with IFF and perfumers from ISIPCA, are to be used as a tool to educate, provoke thought and conversation – adding a new dimension to the way that we learn and empathise with those around us.

With racially motivated hate crimes on the rise all over Europe, a little bit more empathy is something that we all need right now. Some of us more than others. 

Birth, Death, Rebirth takes on two forms, the first - a large-scale static installation to be set up in a gallery space such as the Tate or a disused sugar factory.

The installation consists of a large cloth and wood structure designed to fill a 30x30 square metre room. Those engaging with the installation will move between the cloth-walled rooms, experiencing the three differing scents and parts of the enslaved Africans journey as they go. The centre of the installation, the area that is representative of the middle passage, has a much darker and restrictive atmosphere, which combined with the scent, will give the participants a true sense of what it would have been like, below deck on a cargo ship. The material of the walls, the levels of light, the restriction of space and the feeling beneath their feet, all make the experience as immersive as it can be.

The other form that the experience takes is the most impactful. This version of the experience is designed to be a portable workshop that can be held in corporate workplaces, schools, colleges, and universities. This version could also be sent to individuals to experience within their homes.

This experience comes in the form of a box, containing three scented candles, a wooden tray, wooden wall hangings, a variety of educational materials and instructions on how to use them. The design, and material of each of these items has been carefully considered and has a relevance and significance to the narrative that is being told.