'Poverty. Full-time' An art exhibition on working poverty

Poverty is a full-time job.

Donning fluorescent work clothes, street sweepers clean up our mess while avoiding dirty looks and wary glances.

Security guards keep us safe while having to gulp down their meals behind a tiny counter.

Wearing ill-fitted uniforms, couriers work rain or shine and endure uncomfortable temperatures to provide their families with a warm home with their meagre salaries.

Hong Kong has been the birthplace of numerous success stories. In the 21st century, however, a hard-earned salary does not guarantee even a simple, modest life because of an unjust system. Upward mobility has now become a myth, or near impossible at best.

The richest 1% now have more wealth than the rest of the world combined*, but our local working poor- part of the 99% - are barely scraping by. Locally, we see that inequality breeds poverty and that full-time work can still translate into full-time poverty. We are raising awareness about this with the hashtag #PovertyFullTime, but what else are we doing to even things up?

Along with Oxfam, photographer and curator Ducky Tse and a group of visual artists are raising awareness about this in the real world. By creating art to start a conversation, safeguarding access to justice, and curing our blindness towards working poverty, we hope to create an environment where you can step into the shoes of these workers to see for yourself what life is like for them.

*Source: Oxfam International report ‘An Economy for the 1%’ (2016)