Smell is unique because it has the special capacity to take us right back to our childhood. Snidge Scrumpin’ maps the specific smells that belong to the Black Country, from Banks’s brewery’s hoppy stink to groaty pudding to spicy curry. In Black Country dialect, ‘Snidge’ means ‘nose’ and ‘Scrumpin’’ is ‘foraging’ . Our events build on research into the Proust Phenomenon, which suggests that odours can reactivate emotive childhood memories. We invite locals to take part in an interactive psychological experiment that collects Black Country smells and tastes that trigger childhood memories.

Participants will be exposed to a number of different smells, and be asked to retrieve and describe memories, and then rate these on various dimensions. Snidge Scrumpin’ demonstrates the importance of the smell and taste for our sense of regional history, and shows how place shapes us. The project draws up the lost odours belonging to this post-industrial region whilst charting a new 21st century palate.

This event will also include talks from experts in the field and readings from local authors.

For more information contact snidgescrumpin@yahoo.com

Snidge Scrumpin’ is part of Being Human Festival 2018, has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and is running in collaboration with The University of Wolverhampton, The Black Country Living Museum, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and The Memory Network.