Brooklyn Reads: “In Sensorium” with Tanaïs

Join writer and perfumer Tanaïs for a multisensory exploration of their latest book, In Sensorium: Notes for My People. This expansive memoir offers a critical alternate history of South Asia, written from an American Bangladeshi Muslim femme perspective, and interrogates the ancient violence and ancestral trauma of a lush land continually threatened by colonization, capitalism, and climate change. Structured like a perfume—moving from base to heart to head notes—In Sensorium brings memoir together with eons of South Asian perfume history, erotic and religious texts, and survivor testimonies. The program, similarly, takes the shape of fragrance. In between readings from the book, participants will experience a selection of scent interludes prepared by Tanaïs specially for this occasion, as well as a conversation with Samhita Mukhopadhyay, former Executive Editor, Teen Vogue. Plus, enjoy an after-hours viewing of Baseera Khan: I Am an Archive.

Presented in partnership with the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, a nonprofit literary organization devoted to creating, publishing, developing, and celebrating literature by Asian diasporic writers.

Tickets are $20. Member tickets are $16. Tickets including a copy of In Sensorium: Notes for My People are $40.

All visitors 5 and older must show proof of vaccination. Visitors 18 and older are also required to show a valid I.D. Masks are required regardless of vaccination status.

This program will include ASL interpretation. For access needs, please email us at access@brooklynmuseum.org.