Introducing Scent Fair Austin
November 10, 2023
Austin, TX — Scent Fair Austin, a new exhibition and marketplace dedicated to scent-based art and contemporary craft, launches in November 2025 in Austin. Founded and curated by Carlos Moreno of Barrio Pop Studio, the fair brings together artists, makers, and cultural practitioners working across fragrance, ritual, and material experimentation.
Developed as an extension of Moreno’s research during his fellowship at The Andy Warhol Museum, Scent Fair Austin expands an ongoing investigation into scent as both medium and method. The project builds on Barrio Pop’s foundation in contemporary craft and Latinx material culture, translating a studio-based practice into a public-facing platform that centers olfaction within exhibition-making.
Scent Fair Austin positions scent as a primary artistic medium, challenging the dominance of visual culture in traditional exhibition formats. Drawing from research in material culture and neuroaesthetics, the fair explores how scent shapes memory, perception, and lived experience. Participating artists and vendors will present work spanning candles, incense, botanical installations, and scent-based artworks, situating functional objects within a broader contemporary art context.
The fair is organized through an elemental framework—air, water, earth, and fire—which guides both curatorial direction and spatial design. This approach emphasizes process, transformation, and the material origins of scent, creating an immersive environment where audiences engage through multiple senses.
Public programming is a core component of Scent Fair Austin. In collaboration with Equity Through Art, the fair will feature workshops and guided experiences that introduce olfaction as a tool for reflection and interpretation. These programs aim to expand access to contemporary art by engaging visitors through embodied and sensory-driven approaches.
“Scent Fair Austin is about rethinking how we experience art,” says Moreno. “Scent has the ability to carry memory, culture, and emotion in ways that extend beyond what we see. This project creates space for that experience to take shape collectively.”
Scent Fair Austin reflects a growing movement toward interdisciplinary and sensory-based practices within contemporary art. By bringing together artists and makers working at the intersection of craft, culture, and olfaction, the fair establishes a new platform for engaging with the invisible and ephemeral as critical components of artistic production.
About Barrio Pop Studio
Barrio Pop Studio is a multidisciplinary platform founded by Carlos Moreno, dedicated to exploring scent, material culture, and Latinx heritage through contemporary art and craft practices.
Press Contact
Carlos Moreno
Barrio Pop Studio
Austin, TX
