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Philanthrosmia

2024

Why should we care more about our body odor? Philanthrosmia, is a neologism, meaning: the care for body odors (philo- love, anthro- human, osmia- smell), and gives name to a series of Body Odor Tastings, where all the participants can discuss the taboos related to body odors, while enjoying them in their food. Being able to accept our body odors as they require a lot of courage and time, as we have been pressured by social restrictions and prejudices to smell a certain way.


The aesthetic construction of body odor is biased and it was built upon a colonial and racist past, where certain communities were deemed to smell worse than others due to their difference. Body odors play an important role in our lives, and our ancestors knew it better than we do for they used it to communicate
with each other. Nowadays it is not so acceptable, to sniff one another in public, but could we still be implying our curiosity about body smells by enjoying their encounter in our food?


During the Body Odor Tastings, all participants are invited to experience courses with whiffs of body odors, and the participants can compose a dish that recreates a body odor of their choice. Philansthrosmia creates a space for debunking olfactory-related body issues and in a broader sense, fosters more interest and awareness towards the sense of smell.

This project had the help and support of Jurjen van Nes and the DAE community Experimental Grant.

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