Olfactory work

Haonan He,
Opium-arium, 2024

ceramics, soundtrack, smoke machine, perfume, archive image
Second winner of the Flair Award

Olfactory creation
Margaux Le Paih-Guérin

 « For Opiumarium, the winning entry in the second edition of the Prix Flair, Haonan He presents an installation combining ceramics, archival images and scents. A field of poppies representing the plant's life cycle from seed to bloom echoes the early 20th-century archival image that opens the space, depicting Chinese children picking poppies. The scent of the plant diffused throughout the space recalls the inhalation methods used by opium smokers. Opium is a drug obtained through human processing, which was sadly at the heart of England's economic manipulation of China and plunged many subjects of the empire into violent addiction. » 
SB

© Romain Darnaud