Dessine moi un arc-en-ciel is an olfactory installation commissioned by the Museum Louis Braille, that invites visitors to explore the concept of color beyond its visual dimension. Much more than a simple visual attribute, colors carry in them a vast universe of symbols and mental associations acquired over time. Culture, religion, language along with personal sensory experiences and memories are all elements that affect our perception of colors as concepts and allow us to give them meaning.

 

The artist collaborated with seven visually impaired participants and several perfumer from Givaudan to create the scent of each of the seven colors of the rainbow. Thru multiple interviews, each participant engaged in an internal exploration of the universe of a given color: imagining its texture, temperature, taste, smell; sharing with Kosmatopoulos key words and personal stories that were then used by the perfumer to turned the words into odors. 

 

The title refers to the famous phrase repeated over and over by the little Prince in the book of Saint Exupéry, "please...draw me a sheep". Like the narrator in the Little Prince, “Dessine moi un arc-en-ciel” proposes to put the colors inside "imaginary boxes".
The purpose of the project is not to create a universal smell of colors but rather to encourage viewers to engage in an internal travel in time and space through the odors that will revive olfactory memories - memories about childhood, travels, readings, dreams and loved ones... attached to their personal history – opening a dialogue freed from any visual limitation. Going through this experience, the question remains: “What colors means to me?”  

Dessine moi un arc-en-ciel was created with support from the French Ministry of Culture and communication and the Givaudan Foundation.