(Clearwisdom.net) From June 7 to July 10, 2011, the International Truth-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition is being held for five consecutive weeks in Mailbox, a well-known shopping center in Birmingham, UK. On the evening of June 7, the opening ceremony was held at the Art Box Gallery located on the 2nd floor of the shopping center. Many local politicians and community members attended the ceremony.
Visitors carefully read the explanation of the paintings
Chinese students view the artworks attentively
Mr. Ian Cruise, Birmingham City Councilor, said that the exhibition broadened the horizons of visitors. He said that the artworks were not only very good, but also helped people to deepen their thinking. He expressed his support for freedom of belief and freedom of speech. He was especially moved by a painting that depicted a female Falun Gong practitioner meditating, even though her hands and feet were shackled.
Mr. Ian Cruise, Birmingham City Councilor, said that the Truth-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition broadens the horizons of visitors.
Fan Hong, the artist of this painting, and also a Falun Gong practitioner, was detained and tortured in China because of her belief. Based on her own experiences and feelings, she tried to show in this painting that Falun Dafa practitioners, even when facing imprisonment, are still brave and full of brightness because they believe in Truth-Compassion-Forbearance.
Mr. James Hutchings, Birmingham City Councilor, said that in England most people have heard of Falun Gong, but know very little about it. He said that it is very sad that this group, with such good principles, is persecuted in China.
Mr. James Hutchings, Birmingham City Councilor, said that the images were beautiful
Mr. Hutchings said that many of the paintings impressed him. He pointed to the painting titled “Pure Lotus” as one that he found especially interesting. He also said that the information near each picture is very helpful in gaining more understanding and insight into the paintings.
Mr. Terence McDermott, Gallery Director, said, “I was approached about putting the exhibition on at the beginning of the year. I went on the exhibition's website. Initially I thought that it was not an exhibition I would be normally be associated with.” However, Mr. McDermott said that he was struck by the emotion of the works and was impressed by the message. He said, “I felt the story could be told within the city of Birmingham, a large community that would see the exhibition, which is the purpose of this exhibition, to expose many people to what is going on in China.”
Mr Terence McDermott, McEmott Galleries Director: “The language of art is universal.”
Mr. McDermott liked the painting titled “Shock” very much. The work was derived from a true story, in which a Dafa practitioner was tortured in a Chinese Communist Party prison, but she still continued to practice Falun Gong. Suddenly the shackles on both her hands and feet were opened and she was floating in the air. In the painting, the amazed and shocked facial expression of a policeman sharply contrasts with the Dafa practitioner’s faithfulness and solid belief.
Mr. McDermott said, “Through the image of the woman, a lot is conveyed without words; very powerful. The language of art is universal.”
Mr. McDermott added that in the United Kingdom we have freedom of speech. Everyone can more or less do anything legal and has freedom of speech. In some other countries, a plain statement could get a person into trouble, even to the point of death. He said that one needs to cherish freedom and help others to have the same freedom.
Standing in front the painting titled “Sujiatun’s Evil,” Ms. Sarah Falkland, a senior newscaster for BBC Midland, said, “It's very shocking.”
Ms. Sarah Falkland, a senior newscaster for BBC Midland, was struck by the painting, “Sujiatun's Evil.”
The painting shows that under the CCP’s policy of persecuting Falun Gong unscrupulously, Chinese doctors as well as the Chinese military, the police, and judicial system have collaborated to harvest organs from imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners for use in lucrative organ transplantation surgeries. As Canadian human rights attorney David Matas put it, it is “a form of evil we have yet to see on this planet." In the painting, a practitioner undergoing live organ removal, clenches his fists in pain. On the right side of the picture, a strong conscience made the surgeon penitent. The subject matter of this painting was derived from the testimony of a surgeon’s wife: A doctor who still maintained a certain level of consciousness, saw the words, “Happy birthday, Mummy” on a piece of paper that fell from a Falun Gong practitioners’ pocket. Suddenly he realized that he was committing a crime, and his conscience was smote.
Ms. Falkland said that she knew about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, but she did not know that the CCP performed organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.
James Pearson, banker: “Seeing the exhibition is an experience”
