“A fascinatingly distinctive work…engrossing and altogether memorable”
“Exquisite & intimate”
Jeremy Smith, Australia Council for the Arts
“You don’t walk out the same way you walk in.”
Paolo, East Timor
Can you really know a city by the way it smells?
In this work, artist Cat Jones distills more than first impressions and seeks to capture the real substance of Sydney, its stories of landscape, democracy, resistance, competition, and extravagance.
Through a series of conversations and debates you’re invited to create an olfactory portrait of our city and contribute your ideas and stories of Sydney’s identity. From sophisticated airs to dirty laundry these conversations and ideas will be opened up and transformed – through scent.
Featuring audio interviews and accompanying scents with Sydney change-makers Patrick Abboud, Auntie Frances Bodkin, Dr Michael Darcy, Elizabeth Farrelly, Pat Fiske, Prof William Gladstone, Sarah Houbolt, Lyall Munro Jnr, Anne Summers and William Yang.
Scent of Sydney is hosts a series of public panels on each theme with speakers including The Hon. Michael Kirby, Larissa Behrendt, Michael Lavarch, Tania Leimbach, Illaria Vanni, Jeremy Walker, Jaimie Leonarder, Andrew Geeves, Dr Mem Mahmut, Fiona Winning and featured interviewees.
You can listen to featured interviews and read the web anthology at the Scent of Sydney website.
Commissioned by Sydney Festival 2017.
Credits
Concept, design, direction, curation, interviews, scent composition, web build: Cat Jones
Live artists: Rebecca Conroy, Sumugan Sivanesan, Nick Atkins, Maria White
Spatial Design: Pip Runciman
Graphic Design: Anais Taylor
Lighting: Neil Simpson
Sound Editor: Miles Martignoni and Ninah Kopel
Creative Producer: Fiona Winning
Project Manager: Imogen Semmler
Special thanks to Wesley Enoch, commissioning Artistic Director Sydney Festival 2017; Fiona Winning; project partners University Technology Sydney, Destination NSW, Naomi Taplin, Studio Enti, Sarah Last, Wired Lab, and to Alex Hyvonen, Amalina Whitaker, Bill Booth, Jason Ashmore, Whitney Eglington, Sarah Last, Jake Morcom, Ninah Kopel, Michael Cutrupi, Boni Carincross, Amelia Wallin and many more.
