World Sensorium at Kunstmuseum The Hague
New New Babylon: Visions For Another Tomorrow
March 29, 2025 -August 31, 2025
Stadhouderslaan 41, 2517 HV The Hague, Netherlands
Curated by Zippora Elders, Yasmijn Jarram, Daniel Koep and Margriet Schavemaker.
Gayil Nalls: World Sensorium and New New Babylon
World Sensorium will be featured in the upcoming exhibition New New Babylon: Visions for Another Tomorrow at the Kunstmuseum: The Hague, from March 29 to August 31, 2025. This groundbreaking exhibition revisits Constant Nieuwenhuys’ utopian vision of a dynamic, sensorily rich world, as a platform for contemporary artistic practices that reimagine multisensory urban and ecological experiences in their views of the future.
World Sensorium: The World Olfactory Social Sculpture and the global olfactory cultural and conservation project, World Sensorium Conservancy, will be presented as a vital component of this dialogue. Created by Gayil Nalls, World Sensorium embodies the scents that evoke collective memory of human civilization, drawing from iconic aromatic plants and their regional botanical traditions to evoke a profound sense of place and identity. At New New Babylon, visitors will explore the olfactory dimension of world heritage, engaging with scent as a vital cultural and environmental force—one that has shaped the past and will influence the future of our interconnected world.
Margriet Schavemaker, Director of the Kunstmuseum the Hague said, “In New New Babylon, the Kunstmuseum is addressing urgent social themes that affect us at the local, national, and global levels. With this year’s NATO summit taking place in the Kunstmuseum’s backyard, this is the perfect time to show that art and imagination play a crucial role in shaping the world we live in – now and in the future.”
The world scent, World Sensorium, conceptualizes a one world utopia by symbolically uniting humanity through a shared sensory experience that transcends national borders. World Sensorium is a blend of scents representing each country, carefully identified through research and a world survey conducted with official representatives of each country. Leading to the evocation of cultural and ecological diversity. By transforming scent—a powerful trigger of memory and emotion—into a unifying medium, it invites people to experience a world where borders, political divides, and conflicts dissolve, revealing the commonalities of human experience and felt consciousness.
This olfactory project dares to imagine a potential world that prioritizes ecological and cultural unity over nationalist identities. In a post-nation utopia, environmental issues are no longer isolated to specific regions but are acknowledged as global responsibilities. World Sensorium embodies this ideal by blending scents reflective of biodiversity and traditional knowledge, symbolizing both the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the shared human heritage embedded in nature. It aligns with the idea of environmental responsibility, urging people to consider a global perspective where care for the planet is universal.
In this way, World Sensorium uses scent as an immersive language to challenge the limitations of national identity. It allows individuals to imagine what a harmonious world might feel like—one in which collective identity is grounded in the stewardship of Earth and a deep respect for each other’s cultural expressions. The work thus becomes a sensory medium through which people can envision and connect to the possibility of a future world that is socially cohesive, ecologically aware, and deeply connected.