Scents from the past waft through Hong Kong show on Chinese fragrance culture
- Fragrance of Time at the Hong Kong Museum of Art explores the use of fragrances in China through 150-plus exhibits – and whiffs of scents
In ancient China, fragrances were not just for an extra spritz of glamour; royal temples burned incense as a sacred offering in religious rituals, lovers gifted each other aromatic embroidered purses for good fortune, and scholars took whiffs of agarwood for literary inspiration.
While most of these scents can only be imagined today, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and Shanghai Museum have done their best to retrace the diversity of Chinese fragrance culture in their co-curated exhibition “Fragrance of Time – In Search of Chinese Art of Scent”.
Sponsored by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Shanghai Museum and Museum of Art have pulled together 109 and 51 sets of scent materials respectively. They show how deeply fragrances have been rooted in the religious, imperial, literary and artistic facets of Chinese culture.
“In contemporary life, fragrance remains an indispensable part of our interactions. The art of scent goes hand in hand with the fundamental aspects of Chinese culture,” says Chen Jie, deputy director of the Shanghai Museum.
The exhibition is divided into four sections – Botanical Aroma, Intimate Scents, Heavenly Fragrances and Worldly Perfumes.
