The Aromata Awards
The Aromata Awards is an international contest and exhibition dedicated to artistic perfumery. We have envisioned an event dedicated to master perfumers where their creativity and sensitivity is highlighted and appreciated on a par with that of a great painter or a famous composer. The Aromata Awards, promoted by the Roman cultural association LiberoStile cultural association, stems from an idea of Laura Amato, founding member and visual artist. The creations of the master perfumers will be on display in Rome, from 16 to 18 May 2024, inside the historic Palazzo Cavallerini Lazzaroni, a baroque building home to SpazioSette bookshop, a stone’s throw from Largo Argentina Sacred Area archeological site where Julius Caesar was assassinated, one of the most infamous crimes in History.
The evocative power of a perfume is eternal like the city of Rome, and its consolidated artistic vocation makes it an ideal venue to promote the culture of niche perfumery.
With the term Aromata the Romans indicated the spices whose aromas were the basis for the creation of perfumed ointments such as the Regale unguentum composed of a long list of ingredients including cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, and myrrh. At the time, the perfumers were gathered in the Collegium aromatarium corporation and their shops were grouped near the Velabro, in particular in the Vicus thuriarus and Vicus ungentarius.
“The invisible among the lines”
“Perfume, like a delicate verse, weaves through the air, evoking memories and emotions. Its subtle dance upon our skin whispers secrets, conjuring desire and painting unseen landscapes. Each note, a syllable in this sensory sonnet, lingers—a fragrant stanza etched in time.” – Jean Paul Guerlain
The Aromata Awards “Perfume: expressive code” is an international contest inspired by the Call for Art in which artists are invited to create a themed work. For this first edition the chosen theme is inspired by literature. “The invisible among the lines”: a journey dedicated to the link between writing and perfume, among the scripta manent and the narrative power, albeit evanescent, of a fragrance. Not only the perfume in literature, but also the reverse process: literature that becomes fragrance. We are interested in the possibility for the invisible, told or imagined, that dwells among the lines of a certain literary excerpt, to come to life in a fragrance thanks to the creativity of the master perfumer.
The Exhibition Hall
Participants are therefore asked to present their own creation inspired by the scents described in the chosen literary text, or a fragrance that embodies the emotion aroused by the charm of a character in a story, by the atmosphere of the environments of a novel, by the text of a poem, by the mark left on their heart and the intimate change that reading those lines made possible.
The master perfumers will translate the sensations and mood aroused by reading those words into olfactory notes. Their literary choices will constitute the stages of a sensorial experience: an olfactory journey, a tour of the world, a journey through time and space.
The judging panel is currently being defined, and it will be composed of industry professionals, including
GIULIA BRIGLIADORI nose at Farotti (www.farotti.com)
Professor GIUSEPPE SQUILLACE (Historian of perfume in ancient world, internationally renowned and author of many books on the subject)
SARAH McCARTNEY (Author and Artisan Perfumer for 4160 Tuesdays) www.4160tuesdays.com
GIOVANNI D’AGOSTINIS (Scientific director of the well-known magazine Kosmetika and founder together with Claudia Scattolini of a perfumery school at the Accademia di Tecniche nuove )
Submissions are due by March 31, 2024
The prize for the winner consists of a two-night stay, from 11 to 13 October 2024, at GRANDONO farmhouse, www.grandono.it elegant and exclusive oasis in Tuscany, Italy.
Further information at aromata@liberostile.org
Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief via press release and my own synopsis