Rei Nguyen and the Pursuit of Olfactory Art

Olfactory art: a journey of feeling through scent

Olfactory art is a wordless language, one in which scent becomes the bridge between memory and emotion. For R Parfums it reaches beyond the making of perfume: it is an art form able to stir the deeper layers of the soul. With an unflagging passion, Rei Nguyen, founder of R Parfums, has spent years in study and practice exploring what scent is capable of expressing. That path has led not only to the creation of signature scents but also to the staging of olfactory exhibitions — an encounter with art in which the sense of smell is the principal medium.

The Tokyo years: when scent became part of art

Rei Nguyen’s path into olfactory art began with her years of study in Tokyo, Japan, where she pursued perfume design and aromatherapy. Tokyo is more than a lively metropolis; it is a city where scent threads through the rhythms of daily life, from the aroma of tea in the tea ceremony to the scent of cedar in Zen gardens. These encounters shaped Rei Nguyen’s approach to the art of scent: refined, contemplative and deeply felt. After her years of study and work in Japan, she returned to Vietnam hoping to bring olfactory art closer to the public. Not content to stop at bottles of perfume, she looked for new ways to tell stories through scent — and the olfactory art exhibition is one of them.

When scent becomes a means of expressing emotion

For Rei Nguyen, creating a scent is not simply a matter of formulation but an arrangement of emotion, memory and visual art. If painting works in colour and music in sound, scent is an invisible material that touches human memory in a way all its own. The exhibitions R Parfums stages do not merely present a scent; they open a space for feeling, where visitors can step inside, listen to the scent tell its story and take it in for themselves. Scent is not only for smelling; it is for holding a conversation with memory.

“Light & Shadow” – the first olfactory exhibition in Hanoi

As part of this exploration of olfactory art, “Light & Shadow” marks a new milestone as it is held in Hanoi for the first time. The exhibition is not merely a display but a place where scent leads the way, where light and shadow become visual elements woven together with the layers of a fragrance to tell a story of feeling. Running from 14 to 20 February 2025 at Tách Spaces, Hanoi, it offers a setting in which scent is not only present but interacts with visitors, carrying them through a succession of emotional states.

The path continues

For R Parfums, olfactory art has no end point; it is an ongoing pursuit that keeps pushing back the boundaries of feeling. “Light & Shadow” is a new chapter in that pursuit — an invitation to all who love art and love scent to come and experience it, to feel it and to find a story of their own in every drift of fragrance.