HOME


The Head of the VOC Visiting a Geisha
A Geisha Visiting the Head of the VOC

Two olfactory environments



period: 16.05.2009 - 30.08.2009
place: De Lakenhal Stedelijk Museum Leiden
on occasion of: Holland Mania Manifestation

Smell is the medium used by artist Maki Ueda. She takes you on a sensory journey to 19th-century Japan when the Dutch were stationed on the artificial island Deshima off the Japanese coast. The Japanese history of smell cannot be told without including the role of the Dutch: the Dutch East India Company (VOC) brought cloves, nutmeg, other spices and essential oils to Japan. The Dutch also introduced new distilling techniques to the Japanese in the 19th century.

Smells from Japanese History
Ueda uses a range of extraction techniques for oils and extracts odours from daily life. Here she uses smells that refer to the history shared by the Netherlands and Japan. Her installations are based on historical fact and arise in her imagination. In this space Ueda has created a maruyama geisha, a geisha’s chamber. These geishas served as temporary wives for the heads of the VOC, because Western women were not allowed to enter Japan at that time.

PLEASE TOUCH
You are invited to sniff around and survey the room. Step into the role of the geisha or that of the visiting VOC chief. Lie down on the tatami mats, powder your face and sample the odours of old Japan, smells that were so exotic to the first Dutch visitors.

Live Geisha Performances
A live ‘geisha’ performance will take place here on 16, 17 and 30 May; 6, 13, 14, June; 4 July (Museum Night 8 pm – 11 pm) and 5 July

Ueda’s second installation is in room 24 of the museum, the Beer Brewers Guild Chamber: The Head of the VOC Visiting a Geisha


The Head of the VOC Visiting a Geisha (room 4)

This is a room with the Japanese smells that the head of the VOC was presumeably smelling in Japan.

In some weekends 'a real geisha' lives in this room with wearing the smells. (cosplay / costume-play)

This is a smell interace that Ueda has developed. In the box you can smell those scents that the head of the VOC was smelling in Japan. (Self-made extracts are being used.)

‘The smell of these trees can be found everywhere in Japan, especially around the Shinto shrines. It cools you down in the terribly hot and humid summer. The aromatic crystals that Japanese people obtain from this bark have the same smell as to Borneol but are much cheaper. Therefore we, the VOC, have marketed this product as an alternative to Borneol, with great success. We trade this product for spices like clove and cinnamon.’
- The head of the VOC commenting on the smell of camphor -

‘This smell surrounds the geisha house and invites me to enter it. They appear to burn this wood permanently as incense. It permeates the entire red light district. It makes me feel relaxed and excited at the same time.’
 - The head of the VOC commenting on the smell of agarwood -

‘Geisha's paint their teeth black with this liquid every morning as a ritual. Since this liquid emits a pungent smell, my geisha finishes her ritual before I wake up, so that I won't smell it. I asked her what the liquid is made from, and she answered, tea leaves, fermented rice, syrup, rusted metal, and insect-induced tree excretion. When she bares her black teeth in a smile, they protrude so much that they make me think of a vampyre.’
 - The head of the VOC commenting on the smell of teeth enamel water -

Ueda has also developed 8 fragrant cosmetics that geisha's were presumeably wearing.


    “Geisha's love the tonic water 'DEW OF FLOWER', a distilled water made from wild rose. The top class geisha's first started to wear it around 1640, and then later it became popular also among the middle and lower classes. Those who cannot afford it make it at home following the fashion book Miyako-Fuzoku-Kewaiden (1813) that illustrates how to distill with kettle and tea cup. “ - the head of the VOC -

    DEW OF FLOWER

    application:
    (1) As a tonic water: spraying after washing your face will make your skin moisturised.
    (2) For the finishing touch: spraying after puffing OSHIROI POWDER will make your face even more shiny.

    ingredients: wild rose water, clove, sandalwood, borneol



    "An buttery wax called 'OIL OF KYARA' is named after the best quality fragrant wood Kyara. The word Kyara is also used as a metaphor for anything best and gorgeous in the red light district. This wax is used both for skin and hair, so if someone wearing it comes nearby you'd notice it by smelling. There are specialized shops only selling this product in the big cities like Kyoto and Edo." - the head of VOC -

    OIL OF KYARA

    application:
    (1)As a crème
    (2)As a hair wax

    ingredients: candle wax, bees wax, roasted sesame oil, pine resin, spikenard (nardostachys chinensis), clove, sandalwood, fennel seed, cinnamon, musk, borneol
    >>> see all the cosmetics



The Head of the VOC Visiting a Geisha (room 24)

This is a room with the Dutch smells that Maruyama geisha's were smelling in the island Dejima.

‘The VOC chief factor uses to drink this black drink every morning. It smells slightly burnt to me. He says it's made of beans. I thought it might be similar to Japanese barley tea, so I tasted it. It was terribly bitter, but I managed to swallow it. I have heard that an interpreter had to vomit after he'd drunk it for the first time.’
- Maruyama geisha commenting on the smell of coffee -

‘For relaxation after eating and intercourse, the VOC chief factor prefers to inhale smoke from a pipe in which some kind of leaves are burned. The smoke fills the whole room. It smells. It smells somewhat sweet, bitter, and rather smoky, as when fallen autumn leaves are being burned.’
- Maruyama geisha commenting on the smell of tobacco -

‘On special occasions, this food is often served at dinner. I asked the VOC chief factor where it comes from and he answered, to my surprise, that it comes from the stable at Dejima. He kindly offered me a piece but I could not accept it because I was afraid to receive bad karma by eating it. By the heart of Buddha, we are not allowed to eat four- legged animals.’
- Maruyama geisha commenting on the smell of meat -

Schedule - Geisha Costume-Play (cosplay)

May
Sat.16 14:00-16:30 Misae
Sun.17 13:30-16:30 Hanayoshi
Sat.30 13:30-16:30 Haruka

June
Sat.6 13:30-16:30 Shinobu
Sat.13 13:30-16:30 Misae
Sun.14 13:30-16:30 Misae

July
Sat.4 20:30-23:30 Fuhrori
Sun.5 13:30-16:30 Misae

The Head of the VOC Visiting a Geisha
A Geisha Visiting the Head of the VOC (2009)
Maki Ueda

HOME