“satire you can trust”

SHAM SHUI PO, HK— Sienna Zhang, a young artist and activist in her twenties, is a vocal proponent of the first Sustainable Development Goal, No Poverty, and a trailblazer in the world of social justice and equality. 

Recently, her towering fifteen-foot-tall bronze sculpture was installed as a centerpiece at Sham Shui Po Park, taking over the plot of land previously occupied by a children’s playground. The sculpture, Tipping Point, depicts level scales of justice and cost a million dollars to create and set in place; smaller, identical renditions of the sculpture were also placed on benches and ledges scattered throughout the park. Emblazoned beneath each sculpture are the words No Poverty; a reminder of the first key goal towards which Zhang is determined to stride. 

While critics derided the design as one of ‘hostile architecture’, preventing the homeless and others in need of more open public space from properly enjoying the facilities of the park, Zhang remains unperturbed by such criticism. “Me, personally, I believe that public spaces are meant for art,” she explains, “which brighten up the place and give people hope, right?” She pauses, pensive. “Also, I’m not a huge fan of the term ‘homeless’. I prefer ‘people experiencing displacement’, ‘cause that’s a lot more respectful. Check your privilege, you know?” 

Art has always been a big part of Zhang’s life—her parents are avid art collectors and generous donors to museums around the world. As a means of driving political change and being a force for good, Zhang insists that “art, fundamentally, is activism”, and as a young change-making leader at the forefront of Hong Kong’s battle against economic inequality, urges citizens to have faith in the city’s existing plan to lift 1.5 million people out of poverty although “that number is definitely inflated, I think”. 

Zhang’s plans to enrich Hong Kong through art certainly will not stop with the sculpture itself; now, she is working to develop NFTs in the form of photographic snapshots of poverty in Hong Kong, which will then be digitally sold to collectors. All proceeds go towards further anti-poverty activism, Zhang says, and with time you can “look forward to a new local installation of mine—it’s in the works now, but it’s coming very soon!”