Nuri McBride

  • Scented Prayers: Copal & the Day of the Dead

    With the success of movies like Coco and The Book of Life, along with the popularity of children’s books like The Dead Family Diaz, it is clear that the English speaking world is more familiar than ever with Día de Muertos (aka Day of the Dead). Overall I think this is a good thing. Latin American

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  • A Murder Two Ways (Scent the Scene)

    History is painted by the winners, but what does it smell like?

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  • The Great Stink of London

    What happens when a city of 3 million inhabitants has a sewer system that serves 1 million? The Great Stink! But can stench alone kill?

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  • The Body as Art: War Bones

    The Body as Art: War Bones

    In this series, we examine aspects of death and bereavement through art, olfaction, and imaginative thinking. Feel free to follow along at home and leave your take on this scented death meditation below.  This Week’s Muse This month we are going to be examining human remains used in artistic pieces. Some of these works serve

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  • The Body as Art: The Jewelled Saint

    In this series, we examine aspects of death and bereavement through art, olfaction, and imaginative thinking. Feel free to follow along at home and leave your take on this scented death meditation below.  This Week’s Muse This month we are going to be examining human remains used in artistic pieces. Some of these works serve

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  • There Will Be Blood

    There Will Be Blood

    In this series, we examine aspects of death and bereavement through art, olfaction, and imaginative thinking. Feel free to follow along at home and leave your take on this scented death meditation below.  This Week’s Muse St. Francis Borgia at the Death Bed of an Impenitent, Francisco Goya, 1788 As this is the last of

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  • I Smell Witches

    I Smell Witches

    In this series, we examine aspects of death and bereavement through art, olfaction, and imaginative thinking. Feel free to follow along at home and leave your take on this scented death meditation below.  This Week’s Muse Witches on the Sabbath, Luis Ricardo Falero, 1878 In honour of Halloween, we are going to go a bit

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  • Loving Death

    Loving Death

    In this series, we examine aspects of death and bereavement through art, olfaction, and imaginative thinking. Feel free to follow along at home and leave your take on this scented death meditation below.  This Week’s Muse Girls 3, Matsuyama Miyabi, 2016 I have a huge crush on Matsuyama Miyabi, a contemporary artist that mixes the

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  • Bottling Ghosts: Can & Should We Try to Capture the Scent of Our Dead Loved Ones?

    In 2015 Kalain, a French start-up opened to a flurry of news articles. They claim to bottle the olfactive essence of your dead relatives for bereavement purposes. The process is simple; send them a scent infused item like a pillowcase, they work their magic, and bada bing bada boom you get a bespoke essence of your loved one Patrick

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  • Between Life & Death

    Between Life & Death

    In this series, we examine aspects of death and bereavement through art, olfaction, and imaginative thinking. Feel free to follow along at home and leave your take on this scented death meditation below.  This Week’s Muse The Genius of France Between Liberty and Death, Jean-Baptiste Regnault, 1795 Even though the Rocco and then the Neoclassical

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