United States: Reception for the Truth-Compassion-Tolerance Paintings Exhibition Held in New York, Artists Call for an End to the Persecution

Many people view the paintings

A practitioner talks about the paintings to a group of guests

Learning the Falun Gong exercises after viewing the paintings

In the bright and warm exhibition hall, people studied each painting attentively. They were shocked at the CCP's brutality. They admired Dafa practitioners' selfless endurance and wished to ask their relatives, friends and colleagues to come see the paintings. Many of the guest looked at the paintings again and again and did not want to leave. Many expressed their intention to learn Falun Gong.

Paintings Professor Zhang Kunlun gave a speech to the guests. He said; "These paintings were made by artists who practise Falun Gong. Cultivation made us enlighten and understand the universe, the meaning of life, and the harmony of heaven and human beings. Some of us personally experienced the CCP's brutal persecution of Falun Gong. We hope to tell the world's people that Falun Gong practitioners safeguard their belief in Truth-Compassion-Tolerance with their life and blood. Since 2004, we have held around two hundreds exhibitions in more than forty countries. People are moved by our paintings at each exhibition. In the near future, we will have better, purer and more compassionate paintings to exhibit."

Artist Fan Hong narrated her experience in China, describing how she was imprisoned for practising Falun Gong, forced to attend brainwashing session, detained in a mental hospital, and tortured by brutal forced-feeding. In 2001, she came to America after travelling to several other places. She called on all those guests who viewed the paintings to offer help to end the inhuman persecution as early as possible.

Dr. Wang Wenyi congratulated the artists for their accomplishments and urged the guests to pay attention to the CCP's atrocities of organ removal from living Falun Gong practitioners. She asked them to stand up and tell the CCP to immediately stop these crimes.

The hall was surrounded by energy and people were both touched and shocked by the content of the paintings.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Ding wept after seeing the paintings. He explained, "Fellow practitioners validate Dafa with their life. I admire what they have done. Their ability to sacrifice their life for universal truth moves my heart. While looking at the paintings one after another, I saw that many people felt the same as I, and had tears of admiration in their eyes."

A young Chinese man viewed the exhibition attentively and said he wanted to ask more people to come see it. He did not know much about Falun Gong when entering the hall, but learned that Falun Dafa is good after seeing the exhibition.

Two men in the real estate business saw the exhibition and indicated that they would come back to see it again. They said that the paintings were very good and touching. They asked a practitioner whether help was needed, and indicated their wish to donate to support efforts against the persecution [Editor's note: Falun Gong does not solicit or accept donations].

One woman said, "Very beautiful, good paintings. All the paintings tell the facts of Falun Gong. Why are those practising such a good system persecuted so brutally?" She was impressed with the painting "Homeless." She said, "I like the little girl. When she returned home, she found that the door to her home was sealed. It was heart-breaking."

After looking at the paintings, a man from China wanted to buy books to learn Falun Gong, and renounced the CCP on-site.

One young man had come from Poland to study in New York. He wrote in the visitor's book that it was not coincidence for him to see the paintings. He appreciated learning about Falun Gong. He told the organisers that from the disintegration of the communist party in Poland, Russia and other Eastern European countries, the CCP would not last long. "You are remarkable to keep going. Actually, all are under the control of Buddha and Gods."

The painting, "Vow" caught the attention of Jenny from Beijing. After listening to the explanation of the meaning of the painting, she said right away, "Human beings come from heaven with vows. This theory attracts me very much. I will read the Falun Gong books and learn what cultivation is. I really feel that I am from heaven and should return."

One organiser of the preview, Ms. Wang Weixing, said, "There are touching stories every day. No matter whether it is Chinese people or people from other countries, they understand the paintings. Many people indicated that they want to learn Falun Gong. When we hold an exhibition next time, we should probably hold a Falun Gong introduction session to meet the needs of the viewers."