5 Senses of Malaysia
Experience Malaysia through Scent, Sight, Sound, Touch and Taste. A sensory celebration of our culture, nature and shared environment, thoughtfully brought to life through upcycling, responsible making and creative collaboration.
Poster coming soon
Made to be experienced. Designed to leave little behind. FROM FIVE SENSES TO ONE SHARED PLANET What we see, hear, smell, taste and touch shapes how we understand and remember a place. These experiences become memories. Memories create connections. Connections give us reasons to care. To care for a place, we must first notice it. A sensory celebration of culture, nature and shared environment, thoughtfully brought to life through upcycling, responsible making and creative collaboration. Five Senses of Malaysia is an immersive journey through the SCENTS, sights, sounds, textures & flavours that connect us to Malaysia. Through nature, culture, food, materials and everyday experiences, the exhibition invites us to notice the relationships between people, place and planetary health. REMEMBER SCENTS. LOOK CLOSER LISTEN CAREFULLY FEEL MATERIALS SAVOUR FLAVOURS Sometimes, caring for our planet begins simply by noticing it. An exhibition brought to you by Sunway University x Universitas Indonesia Bilateral Strategic Alliance Matching Grant in conjunction with the Global Tipping Points 2026 Conference
Open to participants registered for GTP 2026.
SENSORY STATIONS
Scent connects nature, memory and well-being.
SCENT STATION
In collaboration with Sunway Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM), this station introduces visitors to 60 local herbs and natural ingredients, displayed in repurposed thrifted jars that invite closer exploration of their distinctive scents, textures and traditional uses.
Drawing upon the relationship between nature and holistic well-being, the experience explores how aromatic plants have long formed part of traditional knowledge, everyday food and approaches to wellness.
Visitors can take this exploration further through a hands-on workshop, selecting and combining aromatic herbs to create their own herbal scent sachet to take home.
A small sensory encounter becomes a reminder that human health and planetary health are intimately connected.
Scent Bag Workshop slots are limited. Book yours here
Sight connects us to place, change and what we value.
SIGHT STATION
Sight invites us to consider the visual identities that shape our sense of place, from natural environments and biodiversity to architecture, craft and cultural expression.
Yet what we see around us is continually changing. This station asks us to look more closely at what we value, what may be vulnerable, and what we hope future generations will still be able to see.
Sound connects nature, place and the life around us.
SOUND STATION
From the calls of birds hidden within forests and wetlands to those that have adapted to our parks, neighbourhoods and increasingly dense cityscapes, birds form part of the living soundtrack of Malaysia.
Sound invites us to listen more closely to the birds around us and consider what their presence, absence and changing soundscapes might tell us about the environments we share.
Amid the noise of everyday life, how often do we stop and listen to the nature that continues to live alongside us?
Touch connects materials, making and the resources we share.
TOUCH STATION
Touch connects us physically with materials, making and place.
Fibres, textiles, plants, wood, earth and crafted objects carry knowledge about where materials come from and how people transform them.
Touch celebrates material knowledge and human making while asking us to reconsider our relationship with resources: what we extract, what we discard, what we preserve, and what we can give a second life.
Taste connects culture and the stories we share through food.
TASTE STATION
What we eat begins long before food reaches our plates.
In collaboration with the Sunway School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (SHTM), Taste takes visitors on a culinary journey through Malaysia's edible plants, exploring how roots, leaves, flowers and fruits are transformed into flavours, dishes and food traditions.
Across a series of tastings, discoveries and live demonstrations, visitors encounter ingredients through smell, touch and taste while discovering the cultural stories behind them.