Olfactory Imprints: Scent for Self-Reflection Workshop with Dana El Masri

Join us July 7th-9th  for the Transcendence: Multidisciplinary Artists Salon 2023. A weekend of performance, visual art, readings, creative workshops, artist talks and more. This series was made possible by support from Vermont Humanities Council and the Town Arts Fund. this empowering workshop will be conducted outdoors in the tranquil gardens of the Green River Bridge Inn in Guilford Vermont. Please carpool when possible and bring a bathing suit to enjoy swimming in the beautiful waterfall after the workshop! Spaces are limited, we recommend reserving in advance. Locally-sourced refreshments will be provided. 

Scent as a medium is a powerful tool for self-reflection and self-expression. It transcends traditional semiotics and goes straight to memory and emotion. In this immersive conversational workshop, Dana shares six essential oils from several parts of the world, covering some of their history and cultural significance in hopes of eliciting personal scent memories from the participating artists. Dana also has a theory she has put into practice in other workshops; Olfactory Imprints, where she believes that using our scent memories can help us re-identify ourselves through a new lens, bringing us closer to ourselves. This would also be a chance to showcase the possibility of using scent/olfaction in their own art practice. The workshop is 1.5 hours, and will be limited to only 25 participants.

Dana El Masri is a perfumer, interdisciplinary artist, lecturer and storyteller whose unique perception is inspired by the scents and sounds of our current landscape as well as her deeply rooted Egyptian-Lebanese cultures and global life experience. She is the owner & creator of Jazmin Saraï, an artisan line of small-batch, unisex perfumes and scented products handmade in Montreal, Canada, since 2014. As well as, One the Nose, a podcast with conversations & musings on all things scent related.

Dana's work bridges different cultures and media to create multi-sensory and immersive experiences. Focusing on the importance of our sense of smell in social interaction, cultural belonging, and how scents make us feel. Her ultimate goal is to swap the euro-centric lens of perfumery with a multi-faceted, multicultural, flourishing universe of narratives. With residences at the Institute for Art & Olfaction, Arab American National Museum and several exhibited olfactory and cross-modal works in galleries in Montreal, New York, Toronto and more, Dana continues to explore the "in-between" and hopes to continue to bridge scent and other mediums, with more people experiencing these connections in person.

She has been an AO Awards judge (2017-2023) and is currently an IAO board member. Dana recently exhibited two olfactory works at the Denver Art Museum, as part of Near East to Far West: Fictions of French and American Colonialism, as well as several written works to be published this year.