The Idea of Smell

Hanif Kureshi is a contemporary visual artist from New Delhi. Working with local materials, which characterise Sassoon Dock, Kureshi opened the exhibition by creating a walkthrough of sensations that can only be thought of and not felt. Playing with the idea of smell and memory, the artist established a direct connection between those concepts while inviting the viewer to immerse themselves in a path of feelings through the idea of smell.

What is in front of the viewer are hundreds of words floating in the room, almost freely but not completely. By bending perception and the idea of senses, the artist hopes to trigger a larger understanding of the intersection of language with thought, of how smell can only be first recounted with memory rather than a direct recollection of its sensory experience.