9Na sledi vonjav v vsakdanjem življenju in 
onkraj njega 
Oktobra 2020 smo v okviru 55. Festivala Borštnikovo srečanje izvedli mednarodni 
znanstveno-umetniški simpozij, ki se je posvetil estetsko-senzorični revoluciji, 
pri čemer je združeval raziskovalne moči Akademije za gledališče, radio, film in 
televizijo ter Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani, Slovenskega gledališkega 
inštituta in gledališča Senzorium, ki se osredotoča na umetniške raziskave 
senzorialnega jezika. 
Glavni cilj simpozija je preiskati pretežno neznano in neraziskano, a pomembno 
področje uprizoritvenih in vizualnih umetnosti, ga na novo osvetliti z uprizoritvenimi 
študiji, antropologijo, kulturologijo ter drugimi področji umetnosti in kulture. 
Senzorialno ali senzorično gledališče je danes povezano z zelo priljubljeno vejo 
čutno vključujočih oziroma potopitvenih gledališč, ki so nastala ob prelomu 
tisočletja kot privlačna uprizoritvena forma. V odnos med izvajalcem, občinstvom in 
performansom vnaša posebno igrivost. Medtem ko so se razprave in razpravljanja 
o imerzivnih gledaliških praksah v glavnem osredotočile na produkcijo in fenomene 
urbanih gledaliških skupin, ki so pridobile sloves začetnikov na tem področju, se zdi, 
kot da smo zanemarjali ali celo pozabili na praktike senzorialnega ali senzoričnega 
gledališča, ki že več desetletij razvijajo imerzivne metodologije, a so te na žalost še 
vedno v veliki meri ostale nedokumentirane in neraziskane. 
Cilj simpozija je spodbuditi raziskave in razprave o senzorialnem in olfaktornem 
v gledališki kulturi ter razširiti krila teorije in refleksije tudi na poetike čutov 
kolumbijskega gledališkega režiserja Enriqueja Vargasa ter njegovih privržencev. S 
tem skuša simpozij razširiti dosedanja okvirjanja senzoričnih uprizoritvenih praks in 
raziskati njihov transformacijski potencial. Cilj je tudi povezati sodobno senzorialno 
gledališče in kulturo z Victorjem Turnerjem in njegovim »prestopanjem praga, ki 
ločuje dve ločeni področji, tisto, povezano s predritualnim ali preliminarnim statusom 
subjekta, drugo pa z njegovim postritualnim ali postliminalnim statusom«. 
Senzorialno gledališče se je v Sloveniji začelo leta 1996 s premiero Oraculos Enriqueja 
Vargasa, svetovno znanega režiserja Teatro de los Sentidos (Gledališča čutil), ki je ta 
specifični sistem s svojim ustvarjalnim delom predstavil skupini sodelujočih slovenskih 
umetnikov in kulturni sferi. V Sloveniji senzorialni jezik razvija zavod Senzorium, v 
svetu pa obstaja več kot trideset tovrstnih raziskovalnih skupin. Eden najvidnejših 
protagonistov senzoričnih oziroma multisenzoričnih raziskav, antropolog David 
Howes, poudarja, da čas pravcate senzorične revolucije šele prihaja, pri čemer presega 
10 kontekst performativnih, jezikovnih, kulturnih, afektivnih, prostorskih, ontoloških in 
drugih obratov sodobne humanistike in družboslovja. 
Tematska številka revije Amfiteater, ki je pred vami, je plod mariborskega simpozija. Naš 
cilj je predstaviti eseje uglednih znanstvenikov in umetnikov s področij uprizoritvenih 
ved, antropologije, filozofije in psihologije umetnosti ter senzorialnih gledaliških praks. 
Znanstveniki in umetniki v razpravah in esejih skušajo opredeliti, kako senzorialna 
metoda s poudarkom na vonju aktivira proces samopreiskovanja s pomočjo 
razpiranja podob, spominov in asociacij. Kako izgrajuje specifično samorefleksijo 
in samozavedanje. Kako uprizoritvene in vizualne umetnosti uporabljajo vonjave; 
kakšen je prispevek senzorične revolucije k prihodnosti umetnosti in kulture, lokalno 
in globalno. V številki so zbrani prispevki, ki obravnavajo specifične uprizoritvene 
prakse (Barbara Orel, Barbara Pia Jenič, Tomaž Toporišič), uprizoritveno umetnost 
in uprizarjanje v senzorični kulturi (Enrique Vargas, Igor Areh), ter se ukvarjajo s 
senzorialnim kot možnim orodjem za socialno mediacijo in povezovanje različnih 
družbenih skupin (Caro Verbeek, Peter de Cupere, Simon Hajdini, David Howes in 
Rajko Muršič). Kot taka je stičišče različnih perspektiv, različnih pogledov, za katere 
menimo, da odpirajo nove poglede na pojave vonja v vsakdanjem življenju, teoriji in 
izvajalskih praksah.
Zahvaljujeva se dragemu kolegu prof. Rajku Muršiču, s katerim smo skupaj zasnovali 
in izvedli mariborski simpozij, našemu dragemu prijatelju in avtoriteti senzorialnega 
gledališča Enriqueju Vargasu ter njegovemu najtesnejšemu umetniškemu sodelavcu 
Gabrielu Hernandezu ter umetniški ekipi Teatra de los Sentidos. Hvala dragim 
sodelavcem s Festivala Borštnikovo srečanje in Slovenskega gledališkega inštituta, 
Alešu Novaku in Mojci Jan Zoran. Predvsem pa hvala našim najdražjim kolegom, ki so 
pripravili eseje na to temo: profesorjem Barbari Orel, Igorju Arehu in Simonu Hajdiniju 
iz Ljubljane, profesorju Davidu Howesu iz Montreala, Caro Verbeek iz Amsterdama 
ter Petru de Cupereju iz Flamske. In pa odgovornemu uredniku Amfiteatra, kolegu 
Gašperju Trohi, za pomoč pri pripravi tematske številke. Brez vas bi bila simpozij in 
tudi ta številka Amfiteatra nepredstavljiva.
Barbara Pia Jenič in Tomaž Toporišič


13On the Scent Trail in and beyond Everyday Life
The international academic and artistic symposium took place in October 2020 
as a part of the Professional Programme of the 55th Maribor Theatre Festival. The 
symposium joined the forces of the University of Ljubljana’s Academy of Theatre, 
Radio, Film and Television and Faculty of Arts, the Slovenian Theatre Institute, and 
the Sensorium Theatre Institute, which specialises in sensorial language.
The principal aim of the symposium was to map this largely unexplored but significant 
field of performing and visual arts with performance studies, anthropology, cultural 
studies and other areas studying art and culture. Today, sensorial theatre is linked 
to a highly popular branch of immersive theatres that have emerged since the turn 
of the millennium as a popular form of performance. It interweaves playfulness 
into the relationship between performer, audience and performance space. While 
the discussion on immersive theatres has primarily focused on a selection of urban 
theatre companies that have acquired reputations as the forerunners in the field, it 
has neglected the practitioners of the sensorial or sensory theatre who are developing 
immersive methodologies within the theatre. These are, as yet, largely undocumented.
The symposium aimed to contribute to the field of sensory and specifically the role of 
the olfactory within the theatre culture and extend its discussion by considering the 
work and the “poetics of the senses” of the Colombian theatre director Enrique Vargas 
as well as his followers. The conference sought to expand the current conceptualisation 
of immersive sensorial theatres and examine the possible transformative potential of 
this specific performative practice. It linked the notion of sensorial theatre to Victor 
Turner and his “crossing of a threshold which separates two distinct areas, one 
associated with the subject’s pre-ritual or pre-liminal status, and the other with his 
post-ritual or postliminal status”. 
Sensorial theatre started in Slovenia in 1996, with the première of Oracles by Enrique 
Vargas, the world-renowned director of Teatro de los Sentidos (Theatre of the Senses). 
His creative work introduced this specific system to a group of participating Slovenian 
artists. One of the most prominent researchers in sensory, or rather, multisensory 
studies, David Howes, points out that the time of the sensorial revolution is coming, 
not just as a turnaround or a turn (in terms of performative, linguistic, spatial, 
ontological and other turns). 
The symposium focused on the following issues and topics: studies of specific 
performances and performing models, as well as examples from the field of sensorial 
in theatre and its research of the scent, performing practices and culture in general. 
14 It aimed to outline specificities of the sensorial and olfactory languages within the 
immersive and devised contemporary art, mapping, defining and foreseeing which new 
tools bring sensory theatre to the stage, to galleries and museums and everyday spaces. 
The focus of the Amfiteater issue which you are about to read represents the fruit 
of the symposium. This issue presents essays of the prominent scholars and artists 
from theatre sciences, anthropology, philosophy and psychology of art as well as from 
sensorial theatre practices. The scholars and artists try to define how the sensorial 
method activates the process of self-examination by unlocking images, memories 
and associations; and how it builds up a specific self-reflection and self-awareness. 
How do performing and visual arts use scents and specifically smell; what does the 
sensorial revolution contribute to the future of art and culture scholarship, locally and 
globally? Within, you will find contributions dealing with particular performances and 
performance models (Barbara Orel, Barbara Pia Jenič, Tomaž Toporišič); performing 
arts and sensory culture (Enrique Vargas, Igor Areh); the sensorial as a possible tool 
for the social mediation and association of different social groups (Caro Verbeek, Peter 
de Cupere, Simon Hajdini, David Howes and Rajko Muršič). It is a meeting place for 
different perspectives, different backgrounds that we think open up new perspectives 
on the phenomena of scent in everyday life, theory and performing practices.
We wish to thank our dearest colleague, professor Rajko Muršič, for helping us 
conceive, organise and conceptualise the Maribor conference. Likewise, we thank 
our dear friend and authority in sensorial theatre, Enrique Vargas, and his closest 
artistic collaborator, Gabriel Hernandez, along with the artistic team of Teatro de 
los Sentidos. Thanks to our dear colleagues from the Maribor Theatre Festival, Aleš 
Novak, and the Slovenian Theatre Institute, Mojca Jan Zoran. And above all, thanks to 
our dearest colleagues who prepared the essays dealing with the topic: professors 
Barbara Orel, Igor Areh and Simon Hajdini from Ljubljana, professor David Howes 
from Montreal and Caro Verbeek from Amsterdam and Peter de Cupere from Flanders. 
And the editor-in-chief of Amfiteater, professor Gašper Troha. Without him, the entire 
symposium, as well as this issue of Amfiteater, would be unthinkable.
Barbara Pia Jenič and Tomaž Toporišič