France: First 'Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance Art Exhibition' Held in Ceyrat

On September 25th, 2006, a 'Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance Art Exhibition” was held in Ceyrat, a city in the Auvergne province in central France. La Montagne (the largest newspaper in the Auvergne), The Ceyrat Infos (a local newspaper in Ceyrat) and The Info (a free newspaper with a circulation volume as high as 200,000 across the Auvergne) all carried reports about the art exhibition before the grand opening.

People view the paintings displayed in the Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance art exhibition

In an introductory article that appeared in La Montagne, it was mentioned that the art exhibition depicts the real situation of the Chinese communist regime’s persecution of Falun Gong, a cultivation way based on the Buddha School. By revealing the torture and hatred that Falun Gong practitioners have endured, the exhibition delivers a strong appeal for hope and peace. The paintings impress viewers with noble sentiment and magnificent brevity. The newspaper also reminded readers that in Tuesday’s opening ceremony there would be a dancing performance by the 'Feitian Dance Group', followed by a lecture given by Mr. Wu Baozhang, former director of Radio France Internationale (RFI)’s Chinese branch, about the contemporary human rights situation in China.

The art exhibition was held in a 600 square metre ballroom at Espace Culture et Congrs Henri Biscarrat in Ceyrat. Falun Gong practitioner Mathieu, who helped organise the exhibition, explained that the painting exhibition consists of four parts. The first part is to introduce Falun Gong and show the glorious cultivation tradition in Chinese culture. The second part is to describe the persecution that Falun Gong practitioners are suffering in China. The paintings reveal various forms of torture endured by Falun Gong practitioners and depict practitioners’ gestures of justice and non-violence in the face of the persecution. The third part is to arouse people’s concern and introduce Falun Gong practitioners’ efforts worldwide, aiming to stop the persecution. The last part is the victory of justice. Through artistic work, artists express their perspectives about the future, in which justice will be restored and the vicious will be prosecuted once the persecution ends and the facts are clarified.

The forty-four pieces of art work displayed in the exhibition are creations of seventeen Chinese and western artists from different countries. They are all Falun Gong practitioners. Among them, four have been tortured in China. The persecution depicted in their paintings has truly happened in China.

One common characteristic shared by all of the exhibited art work is that the artists have infused their cultivation experiences and belief in Falun Gong into their creations to express the pursuit of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. People’s hearts were deeply moved by their artistic expressions.

There was a national bicycle race in Ceyrat one day before the painting exhibition. The race attracted more than two thousand participants and an audience from all over the country. Mr. Herve Druaux, chairman of French National Bicycle Race, invited Mathieu to the rostrum to introduce the painting exhibition after he understood the information to be delivered in the exhibition.

On the first day of the exhibition, a visitor left remarks in the guest book, “The power of expression of the displayed paintings is very strong. The message conveyed by the artists deserves our careful consideration.”

A local resident of Ceyrat with painting background said she was shocked by the exhibition. She commented that she did not know about the persecution until attending the exhibition because the local media seldom mentioned it. She added that the paintings had outstanding power of expression because a lot of information was represented realistically. The paintings were very touching, they were beautiful, but the persecution stories depicted by them were horrible. She specifically pointed out the brave facial expressions of the practitioners painted in the art work and the hope aroused by artists’ utilization of rays of light. The painting exhibition also awakened her conscience. She said she would think carefully what she could do to help stop the persecution.

The vice president associated with Ceyrat Family Association and a secretary said they felt distressed after seeing the paintings because they could not imagine such brutality still existed in the modern world. They said, “After committing such brutality and violence, the Chinese communist regime will still host the Olympics Games and they are sending astronauts to the Moon! This simply makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. The only word I can think of is ‘horrible’. I cannot imagine how our politicians could cut business deals with a regime like this. I can hardly imagine it. I am terrified.”

The vice president said, “The Chinese communist regime thought they could weed out Falun Gong practitioners. But it is impossible to eliminate such spirits. It is still possible that we can make a change. We will see justice will overwhelm evilness.”