Maya Njie wins prestigious Art and Olfaction Award for Aethi Opum

We couldn’t be more thrilled for Maya Njie winning the Artisan category in the recent Art and Olfaction Awards 2026 – a celebration of the best independent and artisanal fragrances worldwide (proving British perfumery is enjoying a renaissance…)

Maya Njie, who jointly won the hotly contested Artisan category for Aethi Opum in The Art and Olfaction Awards 2026

Each year, the Art and Olfaction Awards recognise excellence, innovation, and craftsmanship in fragrance across a diverse global community of creators. The awards are known for spotlighting work that pushes boundaries and expands the cultural conversation around scent.

As the Art and Olfaction Awards explain: ‘Finalists are selected through a rigorous, three-stage, blind-judging process conducted by an international panel of experts, including perfumers, critics, artists, and industry professionals. Entries are evaluated solely on their artistic and technical merit, ensuring a fair and independent review.’

‘In our twelfth year, we are excited to continue to bring the Art and Olfaction Awards to global capitals with vibrant and exciting independent perfume scenes,’ said Institute for Art and Olfaction founder Saskia Wilson-Brown. ‘The entire awards team, including our incredible roster of dedicated judges, is thrilled to celebrate global excellence in scent-making in the great city of Athens – one of the world’s important centres for philosophy, art, culture, and, increasingly, perfumery.’

The hotly contested Artisan Award category was jointly won by the brilliant Maya Njie, for her latest fragrance, Aethi Opum, and the Australian niche house of Rivendare for their Death by Vanity.

Now, we’ve been raving about Maya Njie from our very first meeting with her when she launched, and have been wearing the glorious Aethi Opum since the second it was available. Here’s how we described it in our Scentscape reviews for Issue 1 of On The Scent Magazine:

‘We love the way Maya views ingredients important to her heritage, with a modern lens – here aidan fruit, a traditional West-African spice described as buttery, caramelised, almost toffee-like. So, the spice is borne aloft on plumes of thiouraye incense, inspired by ancient ruins reverberating with spiritual echoes. Coffee and leather also make their presence known, as the rain stops and wet earth releases its verdancy. One for travellers, both literal and metaphysical.’

With her roots in the art world – first designing scents for her art studio exhibitions, then finally launching a fragrance line when visitors wouldn’t stop asking to buy them – it’s so fitting for Maya to win in the Artisan category. From the wonderful way she weaves textures, colours and feelings into each scent, each inspired by family photos, to the beautiful way she represents them in Pantone-type colour-blocked visual layouts on her website (and in collectable postcards accompanying the perfumes); she truly deserves this fantastic recognition, and we say: bravo for British perfumery!

To read about all the incredible winners and finalists for this year, visit The Art and Olfaction Awards and follow their Instagram account @artandolfaction