Albania: Zhang Cuiying’s Art Exhibition was held in Tirana

On the 22nd of September 2003, Australian artist and Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Cuiying held an exhibition of her paintings at the International Cultural Centre in Tirana, the capital of Albania. The exhibition is to last until September the 26th 2003. Guests included government officials, officials from the consulates and Embassies in Tirana, artists, university professors and the media.

The exhibition attracted strong interest from the mainstream media and the principle TV stations, including the national TV channel. The media reported on the art exhibition on September the 23rd, and many people later came to the exhibition as a result of these reports.

After the opening speech, the guests were invited to appreciate Zhang Cuiying’s work. Because Cuiying is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit being filed against the former Communist Party leader, Jiang Zemin, she could not attend the exhibition in person.

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A brief introduction to Zhang Cuiying

Zhang Cuiying is a professional Chinese artist living in Australia. She was awarded many prizes in both China and overseas due to her artwork. In 1996, she suffered serious rheumatoid arthritis and could not even hold a painting brush. In 1997, she and her husband were introduced to a traditional qigong practise, Falun Gong, also named Falun Dafa. After practicing the exercises for one week, her rheumatoid arthritis completely disappeared. From then on, Cuiying started to paint once again, and Falun Dafa became a part of her life.

Although Falun Dafa is only a peaceful spiritual practice without formal organisation or membership, Jiang Zemin, the formal leader of the Chinese Communist Party, banned Falun Dafa in July 1999.

From then on, tens of thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners have been arrested, detained and sentenced to long-term detention in jails and labour camps. Their rights and freedom have been denied, and they have been cruelly tortured. Cuiying went back to China after the start of the persecution to say the words: “Falun Dafa is good.” Because of this, she was illegally imprisoned for eight months, and was brutally tortured.

After being freed from China, in order to tell the people of the world her story and to safeguard freedom of belief, she travelled to more than forty countries and over one hundred cities to exhibit her art. Many officials and people worldwide hold her work in high regard. She has also won the support of many kind people, including politicians, government officials, human right organisations and the general public. Cuiying herself commented: “I will continue these worldwide art exhibitions. I hope people can clearly understand Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance in Falun Dafa through my experiences of being persecuted, as well as the inner beauty revealed from my art works.”

This August, Cuiying sued Jiang Zemin for genocide. A world-renowned lawyer and human rights campaigner, Geoffrey Robertson QC, has agreed to help with the case and the lawsuit has been filed at the United Nations. Mr. Robertson is currently the president of the United Nations Special Court in Sierra Leone. This court serves the same purpose as The Hague Court in The Netherlands, where former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic was tried. Geoffrey Robertson QC also participated in the work of trying Slobodan Milosevic. The purpose of the lawsuit against Jiang is to bring him to justice as well as others responsible for the persecution, especially the heads of state that have committed crimes against humanity.

Translated from Chinese at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200309/24573.html