(Clearwisdom.net) From July 14 to 16, the "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition was held in the Student Center on the campus of the University of Waterloo in Ontario. Thirty-five art works, which describe the spread of Falun Gong throughout the world and the persecution it has been subjected to in China, were exhibited.
Mario Boido in front of the painting "Suffering in China"
Norman Ball, trustee of the Center for Social and Technical Values, and his friends
Ken Coates, chair of the art department
Kathleen Gillis, author of The Heavens Speak
Falun Gong practitioners demonstrating the exercises at the exhibition
Chang Jeou from Taiwan is a freshman in the math department. He said, "The art works were shocking. I didn't know the persecution was so brutal. The painting 'Come Back, Daddy' deeply touched me. I will tell my friends about this exhibition."
Mario Boido is a young professor at the University of Waterloo. He stood and looked at the painting "Suffering in China" for a long time. He said the painting, which depicts a Falun Gong practitioner learning that her husband was tortured to death, was very moving.
"It conveyed a strong message, which other media does not do," Mario said. "It is soundless, but very touching.
"She lost her husband. She is crying, but her facial expression shows you her strength. I don't quite yet understand the strong message it portrays."
Mario said that the persecution saddened him and that he would learn more about Falun Gong.
The artist that painted "The Heavens Speak," Kathleen Gillis, came to the opening ceremony from Ottawa.
The painting was the first art work that Kathleen finished after she became a Falun Gong practitioner. It described her experience in Houston in October 2002. Thousands of practitioners went to Houston to protest the visit of the former Chinese president Jiang Zemin.
"It was cold and rainy. The clouds had followed Jiang from Mexico to the US. Practitioners stood in the cold rain, but in the afternoon, the sky opened up. Sun shone through the clouds, and two rainbows appeared.
"My painting describes that scene: the beautiful rays of the sun and the rainbows. My understanding is that they were the result of a battle between righteousness and evil."
Ken Coates, the chair of the art department at the University of Waterloo, said that every painting manifested peacefulness, which reminded people of the principle of Falun Gong--"Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance."
"You cannot ignore the persecution after viewing these art works," said Coates.
He said that those who saw them would remember these works for along time and talk about them to their friends.
"It is impossible to outlaw people's beliefs," Coates said. "The Chinese government has tried to ban Falun Gong, but now Falun Gong has spread to every corner in the world."
