Between 1984–85, the photographer Franki Raffles (1955–1994) left her home in Edinburgh and began a long journey with her partner and child, travelling through Eastern Europe to Asia via the Trans-Siberian railway. A self-trained photographer who was active in the Women’s Liberation Movement in Scotland, it was during this trip that Raffles identified the subject which she would dedicate the rest of her career to: documenting womens’ working lives. Raffles took photographs of women at work in diverse urban and rural environments during a time of significant socio-political and economic change, including in China, the Philippines and India. Over the year-long voyage, Hong Kong also provided a particularly important base for Raffles, serving as a key transport hub including for onward travel.

This exhibition contextualises Raffles’ photographs from Hong Kong and mainland China within her wider journey through Eastern Europe and Asia and her overarching practice, to reflect on the possibilities and challenges of feminist solidarity, and on the changing relationships between women and labour across transnational and translocal contexts during this volatile decade. Drawing on images from Franki Raffles’ photographic archive and personal papers at the University of St Andrews, it marks the first time the photographers’ work has been shown in Asia since Raffles’ death in 1994.

This Exhibition runs 27 April - 22 May 2026