What

Contemporary Olfactory Art
curator Peter de Cupere

"You automatically think of the smell of gas, but also fear, sweat, disease and death, hygiene situations, gunpowder, the musty and damp smell of the bunkers, the smell of danger, ... but to me also smell as memory. Smell affects olfactory memories strongly. With smells you can invoke conscious or unconscious specific reactions in the visitors. It is the perfect way to summon intuitive memories of the First World War too."
(Peter De Cupere)

See, experience and smell the war. The exhibition The Smell of War is divided into two parts. The main part is the exhibition with works by international olfactory artists which use smell as medium of the artwork. A second part consists of the use of gas masks as the subject of the artwork.

Peter de Cupere also organizes workshops (7th and 9th of July) and together with residents of De Lovie he created an art installation. This creation will be a part of the exhibition The Smell of War.

Point of view: Reflections on the first gas attacks 1915

The Smell of War follows on from the broader project Droomkasteel? Kasteeldomeinen in de Zuidelijke Westhoek (Dream castle? Country-house estates in the southern Westhoek). This attests - through expositions, activities and publications - to the turbulent past of country-house estates in this region. Is life in a country-house really a dream existence ... or does history show another (darker) side? Learn more at the IFFM (In Flanders Fields Museum) temporary exhibitions at the Cloth Hall, Ypres, the Church of Saint Lawrence in Kemmel, the Memorial Museum `Passendale (Passchendaele) 1917' in Zonnebeke and at De Lovie Castle in Poperinge.

Who

Curator: Peter de Cupere

Participating Artists: Alex Schweder (US), Caflo Yrot (UA), Camilla Maurer (DE), Christophe Laudamiel (FR), Clara Ursitti (UK), Dr. Elena Bodnar (UA), Gayil Nalls (US), John Bijnens (BE), Lisa Kirk (US), Maki Ueda (JP), Mattia Casalegno (IT), Nancy Slangen (BE), Nathan Vincent (US), Oswaldo Maciá (CO), Peter de Cupere (BE), Philippe Vandenberg (BE), Priyanka Choudhary (IN), Sue Corke (UK), Hagen Betzwieser (DE),
George Grosz (DE) en Otto Dix (DE).

www.thesmellofwar.be | peterdecupere.net

Commissioned by the Town of Poperinge
With the support of Visit Flanders, GoneWest and Cultuurdienst CO7.

Where

Castle De Lovie, Krombeekseweg 82, B-8970 Poperinge
Venue: This exhibition takes place in the historic setting of De Lovie. The castle domain was used as headquarters for the French and British army units during the First World War.

When

1 May – 30 August 2015
From Thursday – Sunday, 2pm – 6pm

Check-in and tickets: De Nieuwe Bankelinde, Krombeekseweg 84, B-8970 Poperinge
Last ticket sale at 5.30pm