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The Surface is a Threshold
  • When:
    9–10 Jan 2026
  • Time:
    8pm
  • Where:

    Esplanade Park, Opposite Lim Bo Seng Memorial

From the shaded paths of Esplanade Park to the river-line of the Asian Civilisations Museum, this roving performance unfolds as an embodied tide. It sinks, drifts, gathers, floods and rises again.

Drawing from long-term transoceanic research across port cities where storms redraw borders and islands carry memories of what has been lost to water, the performance is shaped in dialogue with the works of Syahmin Huda’s Batu Ghaib (The Unseen Stone) and Firdaus Sani’s Rumah Laut (The Coastal Home).

Part invocation, part procession and part breathwork for a city built at and against the water, the work traces the undercurrents of submergence: when land disappears, breath is suspended and memory slips across thresholds. Audiences are invited to follow the shifting tide along the path of submergence and emergence, tracing how histories sink, surface and return in a landscape shaped by water.

Performed with Hasyimah Harith, Ruby Jayaseelan, Hafiz Rashid and Norhaizad Adam in live sonic collaboration with Aqilah, Linus, Matin and Izha.

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Presented by

Zarina Muhammad
Zarina Muhammad

Artist

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