“Feel the Emotion” Exhibition by Ciputra VCD Students: Exploring Synesthesia for Gen Z Mental Health Education
12 June, 2026
Surabaya, MEMANGGIL.CO – Second-semester students in the Visual Communication Design (VCD) program at Ciputra University (UC) in Surabaya held an exhibition titled “Feel the Emotion: Of the Sound, Image, & Synesthesia.”
Held at Ciputra University’s Copreneur, the exhibition featured dozens of visual works inspired by four original songs composed by the students as an exploration of Generation Z’s emotions and mental health.
Each work emerged from a two-stage creative process. Students first wrote lyrics and composed music, then translated the meaning and atmosphere of the songs into visual media such as album covers, posters, photography, illustrations, and integrated visual identities.
Exhibition chair Benaya Christofer F explained that the exhibition’s concept was inspired by synesthesia, a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sense triggers an experience in another sense—such as seeing colors when hearing sounds.
“Usually, music is just heard. In this exhibition, we’re trying to translate music into a visual experience that can be seen and felt. Each piece has a different story, atmosphere, and emotion based on the creator’s experience,” explained Benaya when interviewed on Thursday, June 11, 2026.
“Through this project, students learn how an experience can be translated into meaningful visual communication,” Pandu elaborated.
According to him, this multisensory approach aligns with the global creative industry’s shift toward immersive experiences.
Designers today are not only expected to produce aesthetically pleasing work but also to foster an emotional connection with their audience.
Pandu hopes this exhibition will serve as both a space for appreciation and evidence of the shift in visual communication design toward human-centered design.
“Design works no longer serve merely to convey information, but rather become a medium for building experiences, sparking reflection, and fostering deeper emotional connections,” he said.
The “Feel the Emotion” exhibition is open to the public and represents one of the students’ responses to Gen Z’s growing awareness of the importance of mental health and self-expression.