The Hidden Senses: The Secrets of Taste and Smell
Fifth Sense participated in the Hidden Senses event, part of the Being Human festival, held at the Science Museum’s Dana Centre on 21st November 2014. The festival, in it’s first year, was delivered by the School of Advanced Study (SOAS) at the University of London, in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy.
The Hidden Senses was focused on exploring the senses of smell and taste, and looking at some of the many ways in which they contribute to our lives, via a series of talks and interactive demonstrations
Fifth Sense’s Duncan Boak, Chrissi Kelly and Sarah Page were on hand to talk to people about the importance of the sense of smell and the impact of olfactory disorders. Chrissi led the way by asking guests to ‘Smell the Difference’ between a number of different citrus fragrance oils, an activity that a few people struggled with, questioning whether they really paid enough attention to their own sense of smell. Meanwhile Sarah was displaying a series of photographic portraits of people with anosmia she had taken. You can see these on her website here.
Here’s Sarah on what our participation in our event meant to her:
‘Amongst the engaging lectures, interactive talks and demonstrations involving taste and smell, Fifth Sense acted as a distinct reminder that these are senses that not everyone may be able experience the way most take for granted.
My involvement in the event led me to meet another fellow congenital anosmic, Neil. We both spoke openly about congenital anosmia and the problems we shared (that may or may not be due to our condition). Despite shedding a few tears on my part, it was an opportunity to connect with someone in person and support each other with honest advice and open ears. Without Fifth Sense and similar events like ‘The Hidden Senses’, the understanding of taste and smell disorders and the support there is for people experiencing them is very, very limited.’
It was also great to see quite a number of Fifth Sense members who came along on the day to speak with us and learn more. The event was a great success, many thanks to the SOAS ‘Rethinking the Senses’ team for their hard work in organising it.