B.C.C. factory, union strike poster, 1933

Ep01-736. © 2013 Adrienne Livesey, Elaine Ryder and Irene Brien.
Shanghai industry was often a site of strife, of anti-imperialist activism, and violent responses, as well as struggles over economic issues. BCC was a particular site of unrest. ‘Down with all imperialist running dogs’ starts the hand-written poster on the left, posted during one of a series of strikes in 1933: ‘We demand that the plant implements the Factory Law’ demand the larger characters. The sequence of photographed wall posters of which this was a part, suggests that Ephgrave was probably drawn to the striking visual impression these posters make.