The smell of Homo Aquatis: scented scenographics and multisensory exhibition design in the ‘mockumentary’ exhibition project Aquanauts: The Expedition

ABSTRACT In 1892 two women scientists mysteriously disappeared during an expedition into unexplored parts of Sweden. The only remaining traces are their collected samples showing evidence of an unknown humanoid species: Homo Aquatis, or the Aquanauts. This story frames the exhibition Aquanauts – The Expedition. Scenographic elements such as moving imagery, sound and lighting, sculptural objects, drawings, fictitious scientific samples and, not least, smells are used in the exhibition to evoke affective atmospheres. Using a theoretical framework based on critical scenography, multisensory exhibition design, and the field of art history and visual culture, this study focuses on the use of scenographic sensory activation to create an immersive experience. The use of olfactory ekphrasis to analyse the designed smells brings the scenographic agency of scent to the fore. Each fragrance conveys a story about the character for whom it is designed. What we smell seems real, and this deliberate utilization of perfuming – the use of ‘perfume’ to communicate identity and assert bodily presence – brings the Aquanauts to life. The conscious use of the sense of smell as a scenographic strategy together with visual, tactile and aural cues also problematizes our understanding of the sense of smell on a more general level, by suggesting that scents are an alternative way to communicate.