Poetry of Owls (Henhu) lends its name to Zhang Hua’s solo exhibition and also stands as a core work within it. Its prototype derives from the “Sheng Song” ritual of Yunnan—a ceremonial practice during important festivals and sacrificial events, in which pine branches are raised skyward to bridge heaven and earth, functioning as an invocation, a totem, and a prayer-banner-like blessing.

The work is composed of two elements: the pine rising upward, and the silent poetry that forms its roots below. “Henfu” is the Yunnan dialect word for the owl. Its call seems to converse with the earth itself, marking the threshold between day and night—humans rise with the sun and rest at dusk, while the owl emerges at sunset and withdraws at dawn. This inverted rhythm endows it with a certain spiritual quality, an animal presence touched by the numinous. That solitary cry pierces the seam between day and night, setting the tonal language for the entire exhibition—as quiet as poetry, as wordless as the night.