Georgina Ventós

Georgina Ventós, President of Fundación Ernesto Ventós, Barcelona, Spain and CIMAM Major Patron since June 2025

Georgina Ventós leads the Fundación Ernesto Ventós, an institution dedicated to awakening the sense of smell through art, education, and philanthropy, in close collaboration with olfactory consultancy. As President, she continues the legacy of her father, Ernesto Ventós, a visionary perfumer, collector, and artist who understood contemporary art through scent.

Born into a world of aromas, quite literally above barrels of essences stored in the family home, Ernesto lost his hearing as a child, a transformative experience that deepened his reliance on olfaction. This heightened sense became the guiding thread of his life and work. From 1978 until the end of 2019, he built an exceptional and deeply personal collection of contemporary art, colección olorVISUAL, acquiring each work based on the scent it evoked for him. Standing before a piece, he would reflect: This smells like… and formulate an olfactory note to capture the sensory memory it triggered.

The Foundation also houses NASEVO, the artistic project Ernesto developed from 2002 onward to visually interpret the olfactory families a perfumer works with. This body of work forms the educational and didactic pillar of the Foundation.

Under Georgina's leadership, the Fundación Ernesto Ventós carries forward this unique legacy. Through exhibitions, school programs, and collaborations with museums and artists, it champions a sensory approach to art that invites people of all ages and backgrounds to connect with creativity through smell. Georgina’s work ensures that Ernesto’s twin passions, art and the olfactory world, continue to inspire new generations in innovative and inclusive ways.

Learn more about the Fundación Ernesto Ventós in this documentary

How did you first become involved in contemporary art, and what personally motivated you to continue the artistic legacy of your father, Ernesto Ventós - a perfumer, collector, and artist - who had a very special relationship with contemporary art, inspired by his unique way of perceiving the world through smell?

The truth is that from a very young age, our father introduced us to the world of contemporary art by taking us to exhibitions and introducing us to artists from around the world. We were lucky to have a father who was both a collector and an artist, someone deeply curious and eager to awaken the olfactory world within contemporary art. It is a very personal and unique collection.

I come from the fashion world. I spent 15 years traveling and designing collections for the Inditex Group, including Massimo Dutti and Natura.

Fifteen years ago, we started working together with my father, and I left the fashion industry. Since 2014, I left everything behind to be with him and immerse myself more deeply in the world of art.

What led you to take on the presidency and leadership of the Fundación Ernesto Ventós?

Unfortunately, my father passed away on January 1st, just three months before the COVID pandemic began. I lost both my father and the president of the Foundation. I had no choice but to step into the role and learn very quickly in order to bring the Foundation to where it is today and continue to raise its profile.

The foundation you lead has a very distinctive identity. Could you tell us about the essence of the Fundación Ernesto Ventós, what characterizes the collection, and what kind of programs you develop to share this sensory and educational vision with the public?

As you say, it’s a very unique and special foundation. There’s no one else in the world quite like him, a perfumer, collector, and artist of “noses,” with everything centered around the sense of smell.

We develop workshop programs to teach young children where scents come from, how essential they are in our lives, and how they can support us in our daily routines. It’s a sense that is still underexplored and under-taught in schools.

The collection is unique because it is explained through the artists themselves: Ernesto would ask them to write a scent-based text to accompany their work, and he would complete the circle by adding his own olfactory note.

You recently joined CIMAM as a Major Patron, a significant step in your commitment to the modern and contemporary art museum sector, a gesture we deeply appreciate. What motivated you to support an organization like CIMAM, focused on promoting best practices and international debate around institutional management in modern and contemporary art? What value do you see in this relationship for your professional journey and for the development of the Foundation?

I believe it can benefit and support international museums by offering a different perspective on contemporary art, one that can be expressed through another sense.

Art awakens and supports people’s well-being. Enhancing a sense helps stimulate creativity and emotion.

I would like this to be a source of inspiration and knowledge, as Ernesto always wanted to give back to society what society had given to him.

As he used to say: “Art is seen and touched, but not smelled.”

And another phrase of his: “Words are forgotten, but smells are not.”

How do you see the role of contemporary art today, and how do you imagine the future of art from the perspective of someone working with a collection based on perception and sensorial experience?

Like everything else, the world is changing, and so is contemporary art. Technology is advancing, and we must move forward with it, offering new perspectives and knowledge.

Artists are creating new works, and museums must also present new visions and propose different approaches. New generations are born with different outlooks from those of today.

It’s not the same now as when Ernesto began collecting in 1978, compared to 2025.

We need to work as a team and collaborate with professionals from different institutions in order to contribute and promote new values.