The cultural association ARS CARA (Austrian Association for Art and Cultural Exchange in China (www.arscara.at)) hosted the Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance art exhibition at Café Kandinsky, between June 12th and 17th, 2006.
The opening ceremony took place in the gallery on Monday, June 12th, 2005 at 7pm. A great number of people attended the ceremony. The speakers were district director Blimbinger, and Leopold, Head of the International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) China Taskforce.
Below, please see the speech by Blimbinger, President of the Art and Cultural Association ARS CARA:
The exhibiting art and cultural association is called ARS CARA, which is Latin, and maybe translated to “Valuable Art.” ARS CARA speaks for international cultural exchanges with China. Why China? Why have we chosen a country so far from our country? Why do they spurn human rights in China?
Today, everyone is interested in China, everyone want a piece of China’s pie. Everyone wants to trade with China and no one wants to burn their fingers when it comes to human rights in China. Everyone wants to cut a deal, so the human rights situation in China is brushed under the carpet. Therefore, we want to expose the human rights problems with our art and tell everyone that human rights are violated in China.
Since the 1960s, everything spiritual and groups that smell just a little of religious doctrine are persecuted and banned in China. Such groups include Christians and Uigures, all those who are in the minority. Christians are also minorities in China, although in our society they have been established for a long time. Since 1999, the meditation movement Falun Gong had to carry the brunt of the persecution.
You probably ask yourself, what does this have to do with today’s topic? The artists whose picture we are showing today are Falun Gong practitioners who lived in China and who had to run for their lives. Many were imprisoned in concentration camps and had to suffer personally the persecution in their homeland. They painted their experience, their excruciating suffering on canvas, so you would gain insight into what is going on in their Chinese homeland.
Who of us can truly say that he/she knows China? China has one of the largest propaganda machines. In China everything is censured. The government controls China’s media. Who knows China? China only presents a façade, but the people who flee that country show us the sad truth.
Art for human rights! This is the motto of the Art and Cultural Association ARS CARA. This is why we have this exhibition today!
Thank you that you all could come and join us today.
Originally published in German: http://www.clearharmony.de/articles/200606/32052.html
* * *
You are welcome to print and circulate all articles published on Clearharmony and their content, but please quote the source.
more ...