Germany: Reflecting on the International Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance Art Exhibition in Dresden

It has been four weeks since the opening ceremony of the International Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance Art Exhibition took place in the citizen’s hall of the Saxon Parliament in Dresden. This exhibition drew the attention of many people. Visitors have been deeply touched by the deep inner meanings they see in the pictures, but they were shocked when they heard of the brutal persecution against the peaceful Falun Gong practitioners, a persecution that has been perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for eight years. Among the visitors were also Falun Gong practitioners from throughout Germany. They had not had an opportunity to see the exhibition and some of them were moved to tears.

Practitioners distributed postcards with information about the exhibition outside the building. There were people who were just passing through and who hurriedly came to see the exhibition. Despite the time constraint they were under, they stood for quite some time in front of some of the pictures, as they were touched by what was before their eyes. By distributing the postcards, tourists found out about and took the opportunity to visit the exhibition. They were thankful for being told this information about China and about Falun Gong. Some of them promised to promote the exhibition.

An elderly lady heard about the opening of this exhibition from the German version of the Epoch Times, which she said she read regularly. She already was well informed about the persecution in China, including the abduction of human rights attorney Gao in China. Concerning the persecution she drew comparisons to the past. She actively listened to our explanations when looking at the individual pictures and was deeply interested in every one of the pictures.

The President of the Parliament gave a very touching speech during the opening ceremony. He spoke especially about the human ethic values that were taught by Falun Gong. Many visitors who could not be at the opening ceremony were quite interested in and impressed with the speech, and what the speech conveyed.

A young man, who is in charge of Parliamentary visits, came with a group of young people from Spain, Belgium and Hungary to the exhibition. He told them about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
Not a day went by without a visit by school children and their teachers who had come to see the Parliament building and offices. They all received a postcard about the exhibition. And, over and over again, some of the students stopped, having an intent look in their face, indicating that they were interested in the artwork. They knew about the lies disseminated by the CCP and the injustices perpetrated in China.

One noticed over and over again visitors leaving the exhibition with tears in their eyes. Many of them wrote their feelings and thoughts in the guest book. Please find below some of what these visitors wrote:

“On of the last dictatorship in this world we in Western Europe know surprisingly little. This is an important exhibition that clarifies the fact and shows that what the proverb “Love Your Enemies” conveys is not only practiced by Christians.”

“I was very impressed with this exhibition because the pictures looked as if they were the true depiction of the situation and just like a photograph (Sophie 9 years old).”

“Dear exhibitor and painters these pictures spoke deeply to me and they have become a memory in my heart. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. (Anna 9 years old).”

The pictures not only shocked us, yet helped us also think deeply on the issues. One thinks of freedom and human rights much more intensive than before viewing these pictures. Especially we Europeans can see that regarding these issues we have nothing to complain about. At the same time this tells us to look outward toward the rest of the world and towards those who have lost their freedom. We hope that this exhibition will make many people think about human rights and their enforcement.”

“Your exhibition inspires reflection and we hope that everything will change because of this exhibition. Every human has the right to live his/her life as he/she wants to. We wish you much success with this exhibition and that the associated message will be heard.”

“We wish that this exhibition will travel throughout the world to finally break all power plays.”

“It is important that in a house where democratic human rights and the dignity of humans are being addressed such an exhibition is being held. One has chosen well. The timing for us to come here today was just the right thing to do. I have learned a lot. I will not address how intolerable I find this inhuman behavior, but instead want to wish the representatives of Falun Gong the deepest strength in their faith.”
“Deeply touching pictures. We will remember them.”

“The pictures of this exhibition made me truly aware of the harrowing fate of the Falun Gong movement in China. This is the first time I heard about it. The exhibition is deeply touching and impressive. This exhibition deserves a lot of attention.”

“It is my greatest wish that many people, but especially politicians from Germany and the European Union (EU) countries, will view the pictures and all other display. And, we hope that they will be more accountable with respect to their dealings with China.”

A deeply touching exhibition concerning the fight for human rights and religious freedom of Falun Gong in China and worldwide. I was very impressed.”

“A wonderful exhibition. Keep going. Such information must be brought to the public.”

“The media should really bring more about this subject to the public.”

“A very interesting exhibition. It makes one think deeply.”

The art exhibition will go on for another three weeks in the citizen’s Hall of the Dresden Parliament. We hope that during that time many more people will come to the exhibition and that they may hear they truth about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Originally published in German at: http://clearharmony.de/articles/200704/37282.html