Exhibitions · 2025

Talking Scent at the “Light and Shadow” Exhibition with Artist Rei Nguyen and Scent Expert Nguyễn Quốc Huy

Published: 17 February 2025
Language: English
Reading time: 2 min

Read this piece in Vietnamese: Đọc bằng tiếng Việt

First published in Vietnamese on 17 February 2025. Translated in 2026 and kept to the original.

Since then:

The Perfume Talk of 16 February 2025 and the Light and Shadow exhibition in Hanoi have since closed.

Six guests standing in front of the Light and Shadow exhibition poster and the board introducing scent artist Rei Nguyen

At the olfactory art exhibition “Light and Shadow”, guests stepped into a room where scent did more than stir memory: it became the voice of unseen stories. The experience was made complete when scent artist Rei Nguyen and guest speaker Nguyễn Quốc Huy, a scent expert, spoke in person about the art of scent and the creations at “Light and Shadow”.

A guest in glasses studies a sheet of paper hung among curtains of letters lit in pink, a display corner of the Light and Shadow olfactory exhibition · Guests reading sheets of text hung closely on fine threads in the darkened room of the Light and Shadow exhibition

A guest in glasses studies a sheet of paper hung among curtains of letters lit in pink, a display corner of the Light and Shadow olfactory exhibition · Guests reading sheets of text hung closely on fine threads in the darkened room of the Light and Shadow exhibition

On 16 February, as part of “Light and Shadow”, the olfactory exhibition was pleased to welcome its guests to “Perfume Talk”, a conversation about scent led by scent expert Nguyễn Quốc Huy and scent artist Rei Nguyen. The talk went beyond the sense of smell: it also revealed the stories behind bringing “Light and Shadow” to Hanoi, and the thoughts and ideas behind each scent in the exhibition. Rei Nguyen spoke about her research, the care she took in choosing the scents, and how she refined each shade of a scent to recreate emotions through every creation on show.

Rei Nguyen (left) and Nguyễn Quốc Huy (right) in conversation on a red-cushioned sofa at the Perfume Talk, a bottle of perfume before them

Artist Rei Nguyen (left) and artist Nguyễn Quốc Huy (right)

One of the highlights of the conversation came when Nguyễn Quốc Huy and Rei Nguyen spoke in person about two scents that held a special place in the exhibition: 221B and Shadow Éclat. 221B is the scent Rei Nguyen dedicated to her childhood hero, Sherlock Holmes; Shadow Éclat is dedicated to James Moriarty. They are also the two characters behind the exhibition’s theme, “Light and Shadow”. At the Perfume Talk, guests heard perfumer Rei Nguyen describe how she shaped the idea for each of these two scents and where their inspiration came from.

Guests gather round a man in a white shirt, talking in front of a red velvet curtain after the Perfume Talk · Three guests sit listening to the Perfume Talk beside a peach-blossom branch hung with red lanterns and a vase of white flowers · Guests gathered on a sofa and chairs around a tea table set with perfume bottles during the Light and Shadow Perfume Talk · Three people stand before the Light and Shadow poster, between the board introducing Rei Nguyen and the board introducing the olfactory exhibition

Guests gather round a man in a white shirt, talking in front of a red velvet curtain after the Perfume Talk · Three guests sit listening to the Perfume Talk beside a peach-blossom branch hung with red lanterns and a vase of white flowers · Guests gathered on a sofa and chairs around a tea table set with perfume bottles during the Light and Shadow Perfume Talk · Three people stand before the Light and Shadow poster, between the board introducing Rei Nguyen and the board introducing the olfactory exhibition

Guided by Nguyễn Quốc Huy, the conversation raised many questions and opened fresh perspectives on the art of scent, among them the coming of age of ‘Made in Vietnam’ perfume. Drawing on their passion for fragrance and their experience in the industry, the two artists shared first-hand stories and their inspiration in the art of scent — above all when they set scent in close, deep relation to cultural material, drew on local beauty, and turned to sustainability in perfume. The talk closed in a warm, intimate atmosphere, under Hanoi’s spring rain. The exhibition hopes to welcome its guests again at many more talks on scent to come.