Biography
Caro Verbeek (1980) is an art and scent historian, curator, maker and teacher. After working as a traditional curator in several museums (Stedelijk Museum, Rijksmuseum) Verbeek switched to an academic career in 2015. Since that moment she has been combining theory and practice (which always inform one other). She is an education innovator both within museums, art academies and universities. Her aim is to (re-)construct a more inclusive and democratic history of art by re-narrating it from and through a sensory and embodied perspective. Because she works on olfactory (and tactile) reconstructions of artefacts and events (see C.V.) and diffuses scents and engages in rhythm exercises during lectures she is often described as an ‘artistic scholar’ or ‘academic performer’. She recently succesfully defended her PhD ‘In Search of Lost Scents’ on the use of scent in museums and the role of scent in art history and now works as a curator of modern art at Kunstmuseum Den Haag where she focusses on activitating the audience and understanding Mondrian through their body and senses. Her book ‘On the nose – A cultural history’ was described by Harper’s Bazaar Italy as ‘one of the most important books to read right now’ (2024).
Futurist Scents 