Belgium: Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance International Art Exhibition Held in Riemst

On October 7th, the Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance International Art Exhibition hosted by the Belgian Falun Gong Association, had its opening ceremony in the town of Riemst in Belgium. This art exhibition was held with great support from the Riemst Bailiff and councillor Mr. Peumans. St. Serverinus church has a history of over a thousand years and the culture centre in this church was specially chosen to be the venue.

Mr. Matthias from Belgium Falun Gong Association addresses the audience and Mr. Peumans (right) giving the opening speech

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Peumans gave the opening speech, saying, “I am very happy to hold this art exhibition here. This place has just been redecorated, which is very suitable for this purpose. Every one of us should have the freedom to choose our own belief. However, today in this century, such inhuman behaviour is still happening to Falun Gong practitioners, it is so unbelievable. I am against torture.” He also expressed his sincere wish; “It will be very good if more people could get to know the truth about Falun Gong by visiting this exhibition. I wish all people in Riemst could come. I hope the beauty and compassion this art exhibition can be brought into every corner of our town.” At last, he encouraged Falun Gong practitioners to hold this Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance International Art Exhibition in other cities and towns.

Former UN special rapporteur on torture Theo van Boven giving a speech

The former UN special rapporteur on torture Theo van Boven also made his visit especially for this exhibition. Professor Theo van Boven is a world renowned professor of International Law.

For his contribution to human rights he has been given many international honours. He also has positions in quite a few law organisations. During his speech in the opening ceremony, he said: “We should respect human beings’ beliefs. We should not abuse others. While I was working as the UN special rapporteur on torture, I reported the situation of those Falun Gong practitioners who are being tortured. I also sent many cases to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and asked them to explain. Though we got some replies, they either deny the truth or give a very superficial answer. The CCP regime especially uses the labour camp and psychiatric hospitals to torture Falun Gong practitioners and other people who have different opinions. They describe those people as anti-social and anti-science then use this excuse to suppress them. When we see these artworks, we can feel that inhuman torture that Falun Gong practitioners have suffered."

Professor Theo van Boven pointed out: "This art exhibition should tour around the whole world. Let people be aware of all this which is still happening in China.” He also talked about the current situation, he said: “I found out that, nowadays, western society has developed many relationships with China in respect to the economy. They want to earn money. However, they do not see the human rights aspect and this is very dangerous. The reason is, to walk to the end of this road, what is really contributing is how we human beings treat each other, not the so-called economic power.”

Carefully viewing

In Mr. Matthias’s speech, he thanked everyone for their support and gave a brief introduction on the whole exhibition and the purpose of holding it. He hoped people could realise the truth of Falun Gong and the on-going persecution in China.

Mr. Matthias from Belgium Falun Gong Association explaining the content of the artworks (left)

This art exhibition attracted many people. There were members from the human rights organisation International Amnesty Dutch branch. A famous economist and his family members came too. This art exhibition will continue for two weekends.

The art exhibition organiser receiving an interview from the media

Some local TV stations and newspapers, NTDTV and The Epoch Times all reported this event.