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As well as the big-name artist blockbuster exhibitions coming up this summer, we have picked out three slightly more unusual shows which are well worth a visit.

For something of a sensory-overload head to Somerset House in London where an intriguing multi-sensory exhibition explores contemporary perfumers breaking boundaries and providing olfactory and creative experiences like never before.  Waft through the galleries and learn about the unseen works of art worn on our skin.  Visceral, surprising and even unsavoury smells such as smoke and sweat are explored, the selected perfumers not limiting themselves to the traditional scent palatte ingredients.  Works include a sensory exploration of the Texan desert, an ultra-modern ink inspired fragrance and an olfactory portrait of French Catholic Mass.  Perfume: A Sensory Journey Through Contemporary Scent is on show from 21 June and 17 September 2017.

Once described as “the grandmother of performance art,”the work of Hungarian born artist Marina Abramović provokes strong reactions.  Known for her physically and mentally demanding works of body and performance art, she focuses on ideas revolving around body, gender, energy, time, pain, presence and identity, with the audience increasingly being drawn into participating in the works.  This summer the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, just outside Copenhagen, will present The Cleaner, an exhibition spanning over fifty years of work and developed in dialogue with the artist.  Prepare to be surprised at the first major retrospective of her work in Europe.  17 June – 22 October 2017.
 
Contemporary Calligraphy is currently taking centre stage at the Qatar Museum Gallery, Al Riwaq, until the 17th June 2017 with an exhibition of the Mehmet Çebi Collection of over 200 intricate and beautiful artworks dating from the 1960s to the present day.  Two traditions of the glorification of the beauty of Islam through art are the main threads of the show; the first is a collection of Hilye-i Serif (The Noble Hilya), a form of classic calligraphic art, while the second is a collection of tesbih (prayer beads), used for ruminative prayer.  Widely acknowledged as one of the finest collections of its kind in the world, don’t miss an opportunity to see these wonders.

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