Ukraine: Media Report “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance” Art Exhibition

On January 12th, 2009, practitioners in the city of Kyyiv in Ukraine held a “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance” Painting Exhibition. The exhibition attracted attention from local Ukrainian media.

According to the report, if these paintings were publicly displayed in mainland China, the painters risked being killed. The exhibition, however, has been successfully held in some 40 countries and 200 venues.

The 22 paintings tell the stories of Falun Gong practitioners who follow the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance”. Many have been beaten by police using electric batons in cold prison cells or labour camps, tortured in brainwashing classes or locked up in mental hospitals to discredit them.

Since being brought to the public in 1992, Falun Gong drew 100 million followers in short 7 years. In July 1999, the then head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Jiang Zemin, started the brutal persecution of Falun Gong.

The report said that Falun Dafa is a system of mind and body cultivation. Through mediation practise one improves health and purifies character. The exhibition organizer, Eric Sandra, told the reporter, “For example, the piece “House Search” describes how the Chinese police forced their way in a room to conduct house search, which is common occurrence in China. After Falun Gong practitioners are arrested in parks, in the streets or at home, they are sent to prisons, suffer various kinds of torture or are killed. They are also forced to sign “Letter of Guarantee.”

The organs of tens of thousands of incarcerated practitioners became expensive live goods. Those organs are even sold on the internet. From 2003 to 2008, 42,000 unidentified organs were transplanted in China. Eric Sandra said the painting “Organ Harvesting” depicted how surgeons ruthlessly removed practitioners’ kidneys, cornea and heart. They were murdered when they were still breathing.

The author of “Tears of An Orphan”, Dong Xiqiang, painted based on a true story. The little girl held in her hands the only thing left of her parents – their ashes. At this moment only her father’s jacket draped over her thin shoulders. “It seems that this is the only piece of warm clothes for the cold winter”, wrote the explanation.

Up till today, more than 3,000 people have been verified as being persecuted to death, a piece of news that has been blocked by the CCP. The exhibition did not just show the pain that the practitioners suffered. There were also themes of firmness, honesty, kindness and tolerance. There were also paintings that showed the search for life’s real meaning. The cultivation method can help people achieve good health and harmony.