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.

Bailey, who curated the show, believes the heated debate over universal suffrage will help create interest in the bold images.

"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.