Many things in our environment have a smell: the bouquet of flowers on the table, the co-passenger on the train, grandparents' flat, the dog of a neighbour, or the first snow of the year. Fragrances are volatile and you cannot escape them. As sensual messengers they arouse emotions and memories; they can provoke, attract or repel, influence moods, seduce or beguile. But what does smell got to do with art? Nothing, at first glance. In art, the sensuous is mostly limited to seeing and hearing, smell is usually only secondary. However, for a long time scents have been part of art – from the material to the subject, whether physically present, in memory or imagination.

— Schupperschau 1: The scent of the material is the first of a four-part series of exhibitions related to smell and art. It opens on 13 February at the Kunstmuseum in Thun, Switzerland.