Victoria-Anne Michel Zunitow

I was part of the European research project Odeuropa [https://odeuropa.eu/], which demonstrated how critically engaging with smell and olfactory heritage offers a powerful lens for understanding and promoting Europe’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

Building on this foundation, my PhD research investigates the interconnections between odours, people, spaces, and narratives within GLAMs (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) and heritage sites. Through a mixed-methods approach—including historical and textual analysis, sensory fieldwork, and interviews—I trace how smells are represented, curated, perceived, and remembered across time and context. My work brings together professional practices and visitor perspectives to better understand how smell contributes to meaning-making in place-based experiences.

This research has two main ambitions:

• First, to advance knowledge and public awareness of olfactory heritage by contextualising how odours are discussed and deployed in cultural institutions.
• Second, to develop frameworks and tools to support professionals in museums and urban environments in working intentionally with scent—not only as an aesthetic or atmospheric layer, but as a meaningful interpretive medium.

From a phenomenological standpoint, I also explore how olfactory experiences contribute to our embodied understanding of place, and how smellscapes function as sensory narratives that shape cultural memory and identity.