Threads of Time is a live, site-responsive street performance by Inessa Kalabekova, developed and performed during Singapore Art Week 2026 as part of her PhD practice. The work explores ritual, temporality, and embodied knowledge, asking how ancient ceremonial structures can be activated through contemporary performance in public space.
Inspired by ritual objects encountered at the Asian Civilisations Museum — particularly masks used within living ceremonial systems such as the Hudoq tradition in East Kalimantan — the performance responds not through representation, but through material, gesture, and duration. Red thread becomes a central element, standing in for labour, care, continuity, and cyclical time. Through slow, repetitive actions, performers unravel and re-weave the thread, revealing a small golden egg as a quiet symbol of renewal and transformation.
Unfolding along the riverfront from The Fullerton Hotel to the Asian Civilisations Museum, the work transforms public space into a temporary ritual site. Structured across four sessions reflecting the rhythm of the seasons, the performance brings together mythic and intergenerational performer groupings, forming a living calendar shaped by repetition, care, and shared presence.
