I’m not interested in fixing the industry, I’m interested in finding ways to bypass it altogether. I'm obviously political, and as I’m sure you can tell I’m appalled by how the world is going. I don’t like this current place we’re in, and I equate it to the incessant quest for power, dominance, and money. It's really hard to even begin to approach the perfume industry with all this in mind, because while the people are good—humans doing their best in the world, like all of us—the structures within which they work are stuck, and feel rotten. It's like the plastics industry or the fashion industry. Why are we making such a song and dance about producing all this shit that's going to end up in the ocean, anyway?

— Saskia Wilson-Brown of the Institute for Art and Olfaction. Read more in Beauty Disruptor Series: Saskia Wilson-Brown On Open-Access Scent at BeautyMatter.

By chipping away at barriers, the institute is helping reshape the practice of perfumery, often characterized by elitism and a Eurocentric perspective. To encourage outsider scent culture, Ms. Wilson-Brown’s definition of perfume is intentionally loose, as in not constricted to what one buys in a bottle. It’s “a conscious combination of aromatics for a predetermined result,” she said. “A chef could be in some way a perfumer if she combines materials for their aroma, or a florist. The advantage of this definition is that it’s inclusive.”

— Saskia Wilson-Brown's Institute for Art and Olfaction will celebrate their 10th anniversary this year. Read more in Can Scent Be Democratized? The Institute for Art and Olfaction celebrates a decade of exploring our sense of smell at The New York Times.