"There are no coincidences, only encounters." This credo of Beat Toniolo, the Leipzig-based artist, cultural agent and impresario from Schaffhausen/Switzerland, proved to be true, when he met a Bell manager in a Leipzig restaurant in November 2016. This seemingly coincidental encounter was followed by a meeting in the company's historical Schimmel Library where the idea for an art book was born.
Just in time for the celebrations of the 25th anniversary, the result of an intensive year full of work, over 400 exchanged e-mails and countless discussions is now presented: "IchriecheichschmeckineinemZug" ("I smell and taste in one go") – A 152-paged work of art exclusively designed for Bell.
Six authors have accepted Beat Toniolo's invitation to explore the world of smell and taste. There were no limits to the content, as the freedom of art was respected here. A humorous title for the short stories assembled in the book could be: "Monsieur Beauchamp and Sweet Ella meet for aromatherapy karaoke with the civet cat Philominus T." In addition to stories about these fictional characters, scientific reflections, an art historical summary of fragrance and taste, autobiographical memories as well as poems and a collection of proverbs can be discovered.
The predominantly black-and-white-silver-coloured book in German and English is bought into life by Beat Toniolo’s "scribble calligraphies", to which he was inspired by a trip to Egypt while working on the project. The additional photo poster, which was photographed with an old camera, printed on thin paper and with an homage poem, shows the meetings of Ursula Haas and Diana Feuerbach with the Bell team during their research in the famous Schimmel Library.
The book can be purchased directly from the company for 37 Euros. Contact: info.marketing@bell-europe.com
Authors: Rolf-Bernhard Essig (Dr. phil., Author, literary critic and proverb expert, Bamberg), Diana Feuerbach (Writer, Leipzig), Ursula Haas (Writer, poet and librettist, Munich), Kurt Mondaugen (Philosopher, poet and lecturer, Leipzig), Sara Tröster Klemm (Dr. phil. art historian, Leipzig), Ursula Rao (Prof. Dr., Managing Director at the Institute of Ethnology, University of Leipzig).
