Finland: Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance International Art Exhibition in Helsinki

The Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance International Art Exhibition grandly opened in Helsinki on May the 30th and will run until June the 5th. The exhibition consists of art works by Falun Gong practitioners depicting the beauty of the practice, the brutality of the human rights abusees against Falun Gong practitioners in China and the bravery and righteousness exhibited by the practitioners who have remained steadfast in their belief and upheld the truth in the face of violence, propaganda and abuse from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The art works poetically suggest the beauty of a life lived by following truth, compassion, tolerance, the main principles of Falun Dafa. The art works also depicted the grim realities of the cruel persecution that Falun Dafa has faced at the hands of China’s Communist regime. Powerful, real-to-life depictions of the persecution clearly show the evil nature of the abuses taking palce against unjustly and illegally imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners in Chinese labour camps and prisons.

Parliament member and former MEP Ms. Heidi Hautala said in her opening speech that she hoped the exhibition will help people see the human rights situation in China, which very often is left in the shadow of the growing economy and investments. In a greeting from the Chairperson of the Finnish Parliament’s Human Rights Group, Ms. Ulla Anttila, the emphasis was on the meaning of the universal nature of human rights. She also wished that the exhibition could act as an incentive for public and open discussion of human rights in China.

Opening speeches by MP Heidi Hautala and a member of the Finnish Falun Dafa Association
A musical performance and guided tours of the exhibition

The initiative for the Zhen, Shan, Ren (Chinese for truth, compassion, tolerance) International Art Exhibition came from the Art Professor Mr. Zhang Kunlun, whose greeting was also read in the ceremony. Professor Zhang was arrested and persecuted in China for his belief in Falun Gong. Zhang, like other artists whose work was on display, was jailed in labour camps and tortured. The exhibition is their way of raising awareness of the ongoing suffering of millions of Chinese at the hands of the Chinese Communist dictatorship.

Zhang and the rest of the artists seemed to have achieved their goal quite powerfully. Finnish TV Channel 3 (MTV3), who came to the opening ceremony, spent more than three hours at the exhibition interviewing people and shooting footage for the news. The news broadcast was seen by approximately one million Finnish viewers.

The exhibition was later visited by Vice-President of the European Parliament Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott who saw the exhibition on the news and decided to go and see it. He had recently met with Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing and heard about the human rights abuses that they encountered, including the harvesting of organs. Before he left, he left a note in the guest book reading, "China's regime is still a brutal, arbitrary, paranoid system."

Mr McMillan-Scott chose to have his picture taken next to the painting"Tragedy in China"

In the exhibition there was a possibility for a guided tour to get more specific information about the art works as well as the thoughts of the artists. In its entirety the exhibition was a touching portrayal of the lives of today’s Chinese whose firm belief that the Chinese Communist dictatorship hasn’t been able to sway with its state terror. Uncompromising courage, as in the name of the second part of the exhibition, would definitely be the apposite phrase for Falun Gong practitioner’s nature in China.

Originally published in Finnish at http://fi.clearharmony.net/articles/200605/4116.html