Macedonia: Painting Exhibition is a Great Success

Between the 1st and the 4th of October 2003, a painting exhibition by Chinese artist and Falun Dafa practitioner Zhang Cuiying was held in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. The exhibition was held in the Artists’ Association of Macedonia gallery.

After practitioners initially contacted the association, the secretary was somewhat reluctant, as he had never heard about Falun Gong before and was afraid of pressure from the Chinese Embassy. After learning more about Falun Gong, and hearing the life story of Zhang Cuiying and the support she has received worldwide, he agreed to organise the exhibition. During the exhibition, he continually asked questions about Falun Gong and showed more and more interest. At the end he learned the exercises and asked for a copy of “Zhuan Falun” [the main text of Falun Gong] and the exercise music.

At the opening ceremony, the secretary of the Artists’ Association introduced the exhibition to the guests and then a practitioner described Zhang Cuiying and Falun Gong in more detail. Afterwards, two practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises. One of the guests said that she felt so peaceful when looking at the exercise demonstration that she closed her eyes and put her hands in the Jieyin position [one of the positions held during the Falun Gong exercises].

Opening ceremony	Exercise demonstration

The exhibition was very successful, in spite of the fact that the artist could not attend the exhibition in person because she is part of a lawsuit launched against Jiang Zemin in Australia. Two TV stations, one of them the largest private TV station in Macedonia, reported on the exhibition. Information about the exhibition was also broadcast on the state radio station.

Practitioners also met the secretary of the Human Rights Commission of the Macedonian Parliament. Practitioners told him the truth about Falun Gong in detail and gave him extensive documentation about the persecution in China. The secretary was shocked by the extent of the persecution and said that he will inform Members of Parliament about the situation in China.

During the whole week, some practitioners were at the exhibition hall, some were handing out flyers in the city centre and some were visiting journalists or politicians. Thousands of flyers describing Zhang Cuiying and Falun Gong were spread throughout Skopje. People recognised the flyer about Falun Gong and the exhibition after seeing it on the TV.

Many people enjoyed the exhibition

During the exhibition, people wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises. One old man came to ask for a book about Falun Gong after he saw the paintings. The next day he came back and said that he opened the book and felt great energy, so he came to learn the exercises. On the last day of the exhibition several people came to learn the exercises. One girl said that she learned the exercises from the internet and when she heard about the exhibition she came to practise with others. She was very interested and also came to the hotel where practitioners were staying the following day to practise again.

On the 1st of October, a press conference was held to inform Macedonian journalists about the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China and the wave of international lawsuits against Jiang Zemin for his crimes against humanity and genocide. One of the journalists later came to the exhibition hall to learn the exercises. He said that he would do his best to spread the truth about Falun Dafa in Macedonia through the media.

Press conference