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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Win an Exclusive Invitation to "The Garden of Wonders, a Journey Through Scents"

It is my great honor to be able to invite you in the latest project I have been involved in and which has occupied a lot of my time this past winter, as evidenced by the irregular posting on this blog.
The Garden of Wonders, a Journey Through Scents is a project by the Be Open Foundation a creative think tank organized in the historical Orto Botanico di Brera in Milan, within Energy for Creativity, this spring at the context of Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy. The announcement is posted on this link.


The exhibition set up is designed by famous Italian architect Ferrucio Laviani who has created a "diffused museum" where all parts will communicate with each other and with the Garden area.
The set up includes 3 major installations: The Houses of Wonders, resurrecting 8 historical perfume houses with an emphasis on the design & context of their course presented through the sensitivity of 8 art directors; A Journey Through Scents, an interactive promenade along the historical milestones of perfumery with olfactory fountains that pour replications of these "wonders" and of the main olfactory "styles", as well as a concise map of the provenance of raw materials and evolution of extraction techniques ; and A Vision in a Box which focuses on the design & packaging elements in perfumery and the various twists it can communicate in the contemporary art world.


To give you an idea:
"Piero Lissoni's idea is developed around the title Lundborg and the laboratory of a “nose”: the centre of the set up is a perfume lab sculpture made of stills, ampoules, vases with black orchids and hanging plants, chemical glasses in huge proportions so to evoke the story of the brand and the working place where  John Marlie Lundborg created his famous Violette Flor in 1860. The room is then covered with two big and light bookshelves with backlight panels to enhance the shapes of the bottles.
Lissoni explains: “The room is filled with  700 bottles in 4 different vesrions; these have all been made specifically for the exhibition taking the inspiration from the brands's most famous ones and produced just like in the old days”.
The two installations above mentioned, together with the ones by Fernando and Humberto Campana, Dimore Studio, Front, Jaime Hayon, Jean-Marie Massaud and Nendo  will be within a diffused museum created by Ferruccio Laviani.
The Garden of Wonders is inspired by the history of perfume and the history of raw materials from all over the world; each perfume represented a real and imaginary journey of goods and cultures making it an ante litteram global product. In more recent years the relationship between fragrances and the look of the packages has become more and more intense, to such an extent that it has created well-defined brand identities, some of which are still used today."

The Garden of Wonders, a Journey Through Scents
13-19 April 2015 h.10-23 (special preview during Milan Design Week)
20 April-24 May 2015 h.10-22

The contributors of The Garden of Wonders, A Journey of Scents are:
Tord Boontje, Fernando and Humberto Campana, Dimorestudio, Front, Jaime Hayon, Lissoni Associati, Jean Marie Massaud, Nendo, Gerald Ghislain, Elena Vosnaki, Werner Aisslinger, Analogia Project, Philippe Bestenheider, GamFratesi, Lucidi Pevere, Karim Mekhtigian, Mist-o, Ludovica + Roberto palomba, Victor Vasilev, and Thukral & Tagra.

Follow Be Open Foundation on Facebook. Watch the news on the news page of Be Open.


I have 10 exclusive invitations to be distributed to 10 lucky winners who will post a comment below for a draw. Winners announced tomorrow evening. 

Although I will be traveling by the end of the week on perfumed routes, there will also be another draw for a special Easter prize for 5 lucky readers shortly, so stay tuned on Perfume Shrine.

25 comments:

  1. I'm all grabby hands as usual.
    I should probably give a long, thought-out explanation on how all senses are important in perceiving the world and it's not just about perfumery and... some such but this needs time and I have boring but urgent stuff to do before I'm leaving for Paris tomorrow (yay) so either I manage that intelligent rant at night or sometime too late for the draw.
    Btw. my hyacints are sticking out already and they've proliferated so maniacally when I wasn't looking that I may have up to a hundred of bulbs now.

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    1. Hope the Paris trip is as great as discussed! ;-)
      And thanks for the card in the mail too, it looks much better than our college, to be honest!
      LOVE hyacinths, wish I had a hand for gardening but, alas, no.... :-O

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  2. i wouldn't be able to attend this even if i fortunate enough to win the invitation, but what fun! it sounds absolutely fascinating...kudos to all involved, especially you.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words. It was a fascinating project to be sure on many levels and I'm honored to be part of such a biggie!!

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  3. Good Luck to all who can enter!
    I cannot go Helg .... too far but ... what fun!

    Liisa ....... no hyacinth's here .... autumn leaves! Have a nice spring your side of the world!

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    1. Preparing the actual presentations and picking the eras and scents and working with the perfumer was filling me up with glee for the better half of this winter. It was fun, fun, fun!

      Hope your autumn is lovely and mellow.

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    2. I need to cut the flowers to let the bulbs strenghten before digging them up and I believe they could make a decent potpourri (and I can send you some. I hate good stuff going to the compost). I picked some crocus flowers for dyeing experiments, left them in a drawer and when I opened them... the smell! And crocuses don't smell much by themselves.
      Also, I have sweet mint next to one hyacinth bunch and these two work together really well.

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    3. I'm hanging my head in shame compared with your worthwhile efforts. I just had the first spring leaves in the window sill bloom and I'm crossing myself in disbelief. I'm a lousy gardener and they surely must have been accounted thanks to a miracle comparable to the resurrection of Christ.

      :-D

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  4. Well I unfortunately wouldn't be able to attend either - but this really looks amazing! What fun!

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    1. Thanks honey! Hope those who go report back, so it's not all biased information, LOL!

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  5. I would love to go to Milan and also would love to see this exhibition, but I live in the U.S. I have been to Italy many times but not to Milan (except for having to spend a day in its airport). It would be wonderful to be in Milan and savor this exhibition.

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    1. Milan is not to be missed (airport excepted, LOL), the Duomo alone is worth the trip! ΄-)

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  6. This sounds fabulously fun and fascinating! I would love to go but my life is already scheduled through the first week of June. Sigh! I know that someone will have a marvelous time.

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  7. This sounds like a wonderful exhibition! Congrats! So this will be open also during the expo may through sep?

    If this attention to natural materials (after all the expo is supposed to be about earth etc) makes one think about the progressive ban on them, then all the better.

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    1. It will be open throughout May, starting for the wide public in April 20th (and those who attend the Milan Design Week will be able to attend during the preview between Apr.13-19th). Expo is such a huge "thing" it couldn't possibly host things semi-permanently.

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  8. Mariann05:31

    Wow, this sounds great! Would love to enter if I can. Milan is only a couple of hours away.
    Will the exhibition be open to the public from the 20th?

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    1. Mariann, correct! If you win the invitation you may be able to attend anytime starting Apr.13th I believe.

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  9. Mercedes08:55

    Since I am a Msc student in Perfumery and Cosmetics, it is clear how important is this exhibition for me. But this is not only a wonderful experience to add to my professional carreer, but also a great opportunity to enrich my personal background with "La bella Italia"!! Having the chance to visit Il Duomo, Il Castelo Sforzesco, to see Il cenacolo of Leonardo da Vinci.....many reasons why it is worth winning this ticket!!

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  10. Thanks for your generosity! This seems really interesting. I live 15 minutes by subway from there, that must be a sign of destiny... :D

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  11. I'd love to go, but won't be able to travel to Milan in time. But I still wanted to comment, as this is exactly the type of project I very get excited about. Please write a bit more about it when you can.

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  12. Wow,I'll be in Milan between 17th-20th of April,I'll be delighted to see the exhibition if possible.It sounds very interesting!

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  13. Christina K.11:09

    It sounds great, and since I'm a perfumer it would be a fabulous experience for me! Good luck with the project.

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  14. Congratulations on the project, I am sure it will be a great success! I would love to go and see it but I will not be in Milan until mid-June... :(

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  15. Hello Perfumeshrine,

    nice blog you have!!! I also write a scent blog focussing on innovative products/ events/ business models within the industry. Today i rebloged your post on the great Gardens of Wonders exhibition.
    Have a look: www.in-imitable.com
    Good luck with the project!
    Franziska

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    1. Thank you Franziska. I just had a look. You might want to add a link to the original post? Thanks again!

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