(Clearwisdom.net) "We are all searching for truth, for ourselves, and for this world. I'm deeply touched by the belief behind this cultivation practice. You truly and fundamentally bring justice to everyone," said a local artist after viewing the "Truthfulness Compassion Forbearance" art exhibition. This art exhibition was held at Coffman Union Great Hall of the University of Minnesota from November 14 to 17, 2005. The four-day art exhibition attracted numerous students, professors and people from all walks of life.
  Entrance to the exhibition hall |
  A visitor signing the guest book |
  A reporter interviewing practitioners |
  A little girl attentively viewing the paintings |
Opening ceremony
On the first day of exhibition, Dr. Stephen Feinstein, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota, came to address the opening ceremony. Senator Mark Dayton and Ms. Barbara A. Frey, Director of the Human Rights Program at UM also sent congratulatory letters.
Professor Feinstein expressed in his speech that he was very happy to come and congratulate the art exhibition which depicts the brutal persecution of Falun Gong. He called upon those who have a kind faith in heart, to pay more attention and understand those victims and try hard to stop the suppression in China.
Ms. Frey said that all the art works and artists' personal experiences exhibited the extraordinary uncompromising spirit of hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens who have encountered the government's brutal persecution for practicing Falun Gong. This broad and systematic violation of human rights must be stopped. She said, "The Human Rights Program of the University of Minnesota supports you and your effort."
Senator Mark Dayton said in his letter that he would continue to pay attention to the persecution in China and support Falun Gong practitioners' efforts to end the persecution.
At the opening ceremony, the president of the university's Falun Gong Club performed a violin solo. A UM alumnus, Zhang Yang, performed a vocal solo. Their performances were well received. Some local artists also came to join the opening ceremony.
A local artist said to this reporter, "We are all searching for truth, for ourselves, and for this world. I'm deeply touched by the belief behind this cultivation practice. You truly and fundamentally bring justice to everyone, which is the ultimate goal and an inspiration to all. This is the genuine beauty of the exhibition. I believe it's very important to have the art exhibition tour around the world."
After the opening ceremony, a reporter from an Asian-America newspaper interviewed several Falun Gong practitioners, local artists, and Dr. Stephen Feinstein. The report was published on November 18.
Impressions of the art exhibition
Several visitors said that they learned about the art exhibition from a report in the Minnesota Daily. Some people expressed their regret for not being able to attend the opening ceremony. After interviewing the president and vice-president of the UM Falun Gong Club, the Minnesota Daily published a report on this art exhibition in its front page, which allowed many people to have the opportunity to visit the exhibition.
Many people said after viewing the exhibition that the paintings left them very deep impression. They felt very touched. A visitor said, "Thank you so much! You allow us to learn about the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong in China. You should hold more exhibitions like this so as to allow more people to learn about the truth. I'll ask my friends to come to view the paintings. The Chinese communist regime should immediately stop this persecution..." Some students attentively viewed the paintings while holding back tears.
One woman came with two friends and two children to visit the exhibition. She said that she learned about the exhibition from an announcement on a postcard. In order to give more people the opportunity to visit the exhibition, Minnesota Falun Gong practitioners consigned a company to distribute 5,000 postcards about the art exhibition. The woman who visited the exhibition had been in charge of delivering the postcards to coffee shops, restaurants, and shops. She and her friends and children stayed at the exhibition hall for a long time and she even explained each art work to her children. She liked the music, "Pu Du" very much. She also left her email address and asked that Falun Gong practitioners send her the web link for the Falun Dafa music. Before leaving, she said that she really did not want to go.
A young man practiced talking with Chinese practitioners in Chinese. He said that he has studied Chinese for two years and he would go to China next summer. He said that he once considered going to Hong Kong or Taiwan where he thought that more traditional Chinese culture has been saved and maintained and where it was probably safer. Later, he still decided to go to China because the systems of Taiwan and Hong Kong do not have too many differences from that of the U.S. and he would like to experience a different society. In particular, he wanted to learn more about China, although he said he might not like the situation there. A Falun Gong practitioner gave him a Chinese version of the "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party". The young man expressed his gratitude, saying that this way he could learn Chinese and learn about China at the same time. He added, "I understand that it'll be very dangerous if I bring this book to China."
Another man said, after viewing the art exhibition, "I like my current job in my company because our company has a policy that we don't do business with countries that violate human rights." When he learned that some American companies export technology to assist the Chinese Communist regime to violate human rights, he was very indignant about it.
Another gentleman said that he had been to China and he knew that many Chinese people were angry at the Chinese communist regime. Once it reaches a certain point, he said, the Chinese communist regime will disaggregate just like the former Soviet Union did. The party has persecuted so many good people, how can it not be demised?
A staff member who administrated the exhibition hall often came to view the paintings. He said that each time he came here, he learned something new and he felt fresh in his mind. He was very happy that practitioners held such an art exhibition here.
A student from China told the practitioners that he had a classmate before who was an excellent student. Originally, his classmate was qualified to be recommended for admission to graduate school, but simply because he persisted in practicing Falun Gong, he was not allowed to go to graduate school.
Many visitors signed the guest book. A gentleman wrote, "The message conveyed by these art paintings have a strong effect on people around us and the effect is perhaps one of the strongest in history."
This art exhibition was warmly received by the University of Minnesota. Many people learned about Falun Gong through the exhibition. Some people even wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises immediately. They were very happy to learn that there is a practice site at the university.
