Germany: City Government of Wuerzburg Supports Falun Gong Photo Exhibition (Photos)

A practitioner explains the photos in a Falun Dafa photo exhibition (the middle person at the front is the Deputy Mayor.)

Exercise Demonstration

Since the Jiang regime began persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, practitioners in Wuerzburg, Germany, have held many activities to reveal the truth about this persecution, such as a Falun Gong Information Day, petition drives, parades, practitioner Zhang Cuiying's art exhibition and Falun Gong photo exhibitions. With the progress and development of their activities, gradually their efforts to reveal the truth have received support from social groups, including religious societies, Amnesty International, the International Human Rights Organization, the Wuerzburg Adult University, local government departments, the Cultural Bureau, the Art Museum, and the city government of Wuerzburg. The local media in Wuerzburg have reported positively on these activities.

Between September 12 and 19 2001, the Wuerzburg Cultural Bureau officially held Zhang Cuiying's art exhibition for the first time. At that time, the Germany-based International Society for Human Rights also held a press conference in Wuerzburg and several local newspapers published positive reports on the exhibition and Falun Gong. The media exposed China's terror policy and brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. One report was entitled "China Is World Champion in the Practice of Torture." Another report stated that the persecuted Chinese people are victims under an autocratic regime. After the art exhibition, the Mayor of Wuerzburg wrote to Zhang Cuiying to congratulate her on a successful exhibition and to condemn China for human rights violations.

This year, the Wuerzburg Cultural Bureau again expressed a lot of support for Falun Gong practitioners. A three-week Falun Gong photo exhibition entitled "Road to Peace" was held by Wuerzburg Cultural Bureau, the Wuerzburg Adult University and Falun Gong practitioners. The Adult University waived the usual charge for using their gallery. In addition, they provided free advertising for the exhibition in their own journal. Unable to attend the opening, the newly elected Wuerzburg Mayor wrote a letter to express his sincere wish for the success of the exhibition. On March 25th, the Principal of the Wuerzburg Adult University hosted the opening ceremony, and the Deputy-Mayor of Wuerzburg made a speech. Both of them made positive comments on Falun Gong and the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." They hoped that through this photo exhibition, more Wuerzburg residents could form a better understanding of Falun Gong and show concern for the current persecution in China. Furthermore, they pointed out that the world needs peace and the persecution in China should never have happened.

At the opening ceremony, practitioners sang two songs that were written by Dafa practitioners: "Be Saved" and a new song by a German practitioner called "Die Durchreise" (Constantly Moving Forward). The audience enjoyed the music. One practitioner gave a speech expressing appreciation for the support from the city government and the Adult University, on behalf of all Falun Gong practitioners. He also informed the audience of the support and awards Falun Gong has received from the world's citizens and governments, as well as the lawsuits submitted by the USA and European courts against Jiang for committing genocide. After that, the practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises and gave detailed explanations of the photo exhibition. The audience showed their appreciation for the activities and, above all, they acquired a deeper understanding of Falun Gong.

The Deputy-Mayor said that although Falun Gong was only introduced to the public around ten years ago, it has a profound history behind it. When chatting with the practitioners, one councillor said with emotion, "It's so unbelievable that such a thing could have happened in Germany nowadays: the German police were ordered to expel the Falun Gong practitioners in yellow clothes because of Jiang's autocracy!" From his words, the practitioners could see his sense of justice and his concern for the freedom of the German people.

Through this photo exhibition, practitioners came to a better understanding of the importance of truth clarification and realized that each practitioner's participation, mutual cooperation and coordination are the key to elevation as a whole, to doing Dafa work well, and to creating a good environment for cultivation.

Chinese version available at: http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/3/28/47302.html