Russia: Learning about Falun Gong and the Persecution through a Painting Exhibition in Stavropol

On March the 12th, practitioners from Stavropol gathered at the clubhouse where Pyatigorsk Falun Gong practitioners hold their regular exercise practice to put on a painting exhibition. Practitioners’ paintings, replicas of art works from the International “Truthfulness, Compassion, Benevolence” Painting Exhibition and pictures describing the persecution of Falun Gong in China were put on display.

The auditorium and stage of the clubhouse were spacious, bright and splendid. Wearing yellow clothes, Falun Gong practitioners greeted the many guests who were invited to attend and guided them through the exhibition. They provided oral explanations about the information boards to the visitors and also gave them paper lotus flowers. The visitors were pleased to learn more about Chinese culture and showed an interest in Falun Gong. Practitioners also performed dancing and poetry recitals.

As the performance came to a close, a little boy told his grandmother, “I don’t want to leave. I want to stay and watch.” A gentleman stopped in front of the paintings and, pointing his index finger at several paintings, he asked, “Which painting do you think is the most touching? Is it this one depicting a little girl and her mother, that one showing a woman being tortured in a cage with her child standing nearby or this one showing thirty-five western Falun Gong practitioners displaying a “Falun Dafa is Good” banner on Tiananmen Square? The reason I like these paintings is that the effects of how the evil beings are painted has embodied the steadfast, indomitable spirits of the practitioners.”

Many people learned the truth about the persecution from this exhibition and they began to show a willingness to understand Falun Gong. One after another, people signed their names in the guest book with remarks such as “Many thanks for the wonderful and kind-hearted things you have brought to us. Thank you for all you have done!”

Practitioners also gave out a lot of flyers on the street. Many passers-by accepted the flyers and asked for the location of the nearest practice sites, where they can learn the five sets of Falun Gong exercises for free. Some of the practitioners who participated in these activities are new practitioners who started to practise recently.