Propaganda poster display offers look back to earlier Hong Kong strife

As the electoral reform debate rages, Hongkongers will have a timely chance to relive an earlier age of strife when Chinese political propaganda posters - including anti-colonial messages - go on display on Thursday in a Central gallery.

The posters date as far back as the 1950s and include some issued during the 1967 riots to stir Hongkongers to fight British rule.

But the timing - as the Occupy Central campaign threatens to bring the city to a standstill in the name of democracy - is purely coincidental, said Christopher Bailey, owner of the Picture This gallery, where the show will run until August 16.

"Our timing is certainly not harmed or hindered by the current political climate," he said.

The city's political atmosphere has become especially fraught since Beijing issued a white paper asserting its authority over Hong Kong last month.

"A few weeks ago, we were wondering if it was going to play in our favour or against us," Bailey said of the reform debate. "I think it has played in our favour but it just happened by coincidence because this has been in the planning for 18 months."

An unnamed local academic institution has already bought several of the 45 posters that will go on display.

"They are historically interesting because they are part of the social fabric of Hong Kong and they should be preserved for future generations, rather than ending up in someone's private collection."