The sensual chapel will appreciate the eyes and the nose

NEWS | JULY 10. 2019 

A visit to the gallery is usually the biggest eye-catcher, but the work of art can be perceived by other senses, such as the sense of smell. It is this experience that will be provided by the lecturers of the educational department to visitors to the exhibition For the Temple, the City and the Homeland. Among the exhibits and paintings on display, in all four rooms of the Olomouc Archdiocesan Museum Gallery, they will find small pyramids filled with fragrance and a small chapel where color will engulf them. The second, much larger chapel, will be waiting for them in the lounge of the first floor of the museum.

The small tetrahedrons are placed next to the exhibits at the exhibition in order to entice visitors with the scent that corresponds to the theme of the picture. After sniffing, he gets another impetus to perceive the artifact.

“Fragrances are an integral part of our experience, they can influence our mood, creativity, increase attention and even affect our ability to learn. Thanks to the scents we remember important moments of our lives. The essence, aroma, smell and odor are recorded by a part of the brain called the hippocampus, Latin hippocampus, which is located in the middle of the temporal lobe and is responsible for controlling human emotions and processing memory processes and storing them in long-term memory, ”explains lecturer Hana Lamatová.

There are also two chapels for visitors. They also focus on their senses. But this time, but not for a sense of sight. They will be intensely struggling with color in a quiet area. "The German philosopher and theologian Romano Guardini claimed that people had lost the ability to empathize with a work of art in the mid-20th century. At the same time, the American abstract painter Mark Rothko, renowned for his urgently colored paintings, required his viewers to look at his works close to about 45 cm and let the color act strongly. According to his words, they encountered something that they did not understand, and that was to absorb them. In other words, he forced them to empathize with the image. We want to convey the same moment to our visitors. At the exhibition full of visual stimuli, thanks to the chapel and the chapel, you will have the opportunity to stop for a moment, get used to the world of art. You will be absorbed by the color space and tranquility to open up your mind to new experiences, ”attracts Lamatová.