Δολοφονούν τη Τέχνη στη Κίνα... Βασανιστήρια και Ανθρώπινα Δικαιώματα...

Να γιατί δεν αρμόζουν οι Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες στη Κίνα

NEW YORK – Despite threats, National Arts Club President O. Aldon James said that he would not cancel the Falun Gong art exhibit, “Uncompromising Courage,” that is running in the Club until Nov. 8.

By Evan Mantyk/The Epoch Times

UNWAVERING: National Arts Club President O. Aldon James stands in front of a painting from the “Uncompromising Courage” art exhibit that recently received threats. (Evan Mantyk/Epoch Times) NEW YORK – Despite threats, National Arts Club President O. Aldon James said that he would not cancel the Falun Gong art exhibit, “Uncompromising Courage,” that is running in the Club until Nov. 8. The nonviolent, spiritual practice Falun Gong was banned in China because the government did a survey and found out 70-100 million people were practicing, which was more than the number of registered members in the Chinese Communist Party, said Gail Rachlin, a spokesman for Falun Gong in New York. One of the coordinators for the exhibit, Ms. Wenyi Wang, said that the threats likely originated from the New York Chinese Consulate, which has interfered with local Falun Gong activities in the past. James prefers not to go into details about the threats for security reasons, but said, “We’ve taken precautions in light of what’s been done and said.” Raised in South Dakota with his twin brother, James grew up in a family of doctors that had a deep appreciation for the arts. He fondly remembers his parents elaborately taling him aside and bestowing upon him what would be the most precious gift of his childhood: a public library card. Now, James serves by political appointment on the State-level New York Council for the Humanities and on the literary committee for the National Arts Club (a post he assumed before he became Club president). James— who often talks about the necessity and power of art— seems to have an equal belief in the necessity and power of freedom. “You can have existence but not life without freedom of speech,” he said. During his career, James said the Club has hosted numerous art exhibitions that were controversial, including motorcycle art and, more recently, tattoo art. For the “Uncompromising Courage” art exhibit he likewise sees no need for cancellation. “I think the artwork has such integrity,” he said. Similar to the torture reenactments around Manhattan, the paintings in “Uncompromising Courage” often depict scenes of Falun Gong practitioners facing torture for refusing to give up their beliefs. “People say ‘what is happening in Mainland China has nothing to do with this country.’ [But] what history has shown is that we’re all connected. If something happens to any member of the human family it reverberates and it will end up on our doorstop,” said James. The National Arts Club is a nonprofit organization founded in 1898 and occupies the Tilden Mansion on Gramercy Park South. The Mansion, built in the 1840s has been designated a New York Landmark and a National Historic Landmark by the Federal government. Members have included a variety of names, from former U.S. presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower to actors Robert Redford and Uma Thurman. Copyright 2004 - The Epoch Times http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-11-7/24219.html

Canada: Falun Gong Art Exhibition Moves Viewers at Simon Fraser University (Photos)

By practitioners from Canada

(Clearwisdom.net) Forty paintings by Falun Gong practitioners were exhibited in a gray hallway on Burnaby Mountain on the campus of Simon Fraser University (SFU). The bright colors and artistic conception of these artworks made the somewhat dull atmosphere of the hallway new and fresh.

Visitors are moved by the artworks

Falun Gong practitioners have held similar photo exhibitions and other truth-clarifying activities on the SFU campus before. This time, the number of visitors and the positive responses were unparalleled. The artistic presentation of the true stories and experiences of Falun Gong practitioners carried a direct visual impact. The practitioners' noble character depicted by the artists, the artists' skill, as well as the striking contrast of goodness and brutality manifested in the paintings deeply touched peoples' hearts and aroused a sympathetic chord among the visitors.

Visitors are moved, their comments are touching

In the guestbook, visitors left these kinds of comments:

"Your paintings are very touching. I hope for the day when people in China are allowed to practice their belief."

"These paintings brought me back to the time when Christians were persecuted. They are still suffering the persecution in some other places in the world now."

"These artworks are so moving. When I read and saw about these people being persecuted, I couldn't help shedding tears. These paintings are very inspiring and very touching. Thank you!"

"These paintings truly exhibit the terrible torture and Falun Gong practitioners' powerful inner strength when facing the tremendous tribulation."

"This is to call on all people, no matter what background we are from and what religious belief we follow, if crimes against humanity are happening, we have the responsibility to stand up to oppose this kind of torture and persecution."

"Powerful art that speaks to the spirit."

"I'm shocked."

"Very powerful."

"Great art."

"It's really touching to be able to face life when suffering tribulations."

"I feel really sad seeing that people can torture others this way."

"I can hardly believe that such a thing is taking place. In order to stop this brutal mistreatment, I offer all my sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners. This persecution should be ended. It is too inhuman!"

"Religious persecution has long been used by terrorist governments and all extremist organizations in the world as a governing measure. I hope that human beings' longing for freedom, knowledge and inner peace will eventually end all these tribulations. This is what we have been longing for from ancient times to the present, after all."

Positive responses and deep understanding

A professor from SFU was touched by the exhibition. He invited a Falun Gong practitioner to his class to introduce the art exhibition and the persecution of Falun Gong in China to his 37 graduate students. The practitioner explained to the graduate students that Falun Gong is a true science. More and more scientists have started studying the connection between cultivation practice and physical and mental health. Immunology expert, Dr. Feng Lili, a professor from Baylor Medical College in Houston, Texas and other researchers have discovered through research in molecular biology that practicing Falun Gong can help enhance immunity. The students were very interested in the topic.

Several of the practitioners' artworks

Anna, a student from SFU, said that such kinds of torture and genocide have happened before in history. At those times, no one helped to stop it. Now, the same thing is happening again. We should learn the lessons from history and stand up for justice this time. She said that especially, any persecution of belief should be stopped, because we are living on the same earth, and in fact, we are one big family.

A Chinese student who grew up in Canada said, after he viewed the exhibition, that he could understand why these artists created these works, because these will be left to later generations to let them know what is good, what is bad, what is just and what is evil. He believed that it is very important to save these historic witnesses, so that later generations would be aware of the fact that the kind and peaceful Falun Gong practitioners have suffered such vicious persecution in history. He said that he liked very much the painting entitled, "Returning to One's True Self," in which an infant is meditating in a lotus flower. He said that no matter whether in Buddhism, Taoism or other religions in the world, in fact, everyone is essentially a small child and has a pure and innocent side.

While walking through the exhibition, a Westerner explained to his child what Falun Gong is and why Falun Gong is persecuted. He said it is very necessary to allow children to be aware of the human rights violations against Falun Gong in China, because children will be the leaders of tomorrow. They should understand that it is completely wrong to use torture and persecution to coerce people to give up their beliefs. His two children said that they rarely saw reports on TV on this issue. They believed that everyone should enjoy his rights to do what they wish to do. They expressed that it is not right to force a person to renounce his belief.

Daniel, a student majoring in humanities, told this reporter that he is currently taking courses which introduce ancient Chinese Buddhism and Taoism. When he viewed these paintings, he felt very interested in Falun Gong. Through practitioners' explanation, he understood that Falun Gong is also rooted in ancient Chinese culture and that it is a cultivation practice in the Buddha School. He expressed his wish to read the book, Zhuan Falun. He said that this art exhibition effectively depicted Falun Gong practitioners' astonishing inner strength when facing the violence of the persecution. He said that these paintings are very powerful and very touching.

This reporter also noticed that some students from China did not quite understand about the exhibition after viewing it. They asked practitioners whether those tortures were real and whether showing them would bring disgrace upon China. After practitioners' patient explanation, they understood, and were satisfied with the reasons for showing the paintings.

Many visitors said that the energy field in the exhibition area was very strong. Several visitors asked whether they could buy some of these paintings. Some students expressed that the paintings were really beautiful and brought their cameras to take pictures of them.

The exhibition was held in North Academic Quadrangle on SFU campus from March 14 to 18 and will continue touring the greater Vancouver area.

Posting date: 3/22/2005
Original article date: 3/22/2005
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/3/20/97727.html

Yearly Archive

Falun Gong art presses buttons in San Fran

Blogged under North America, Movements, Asia by ADD on Tuesday 5 July 2005 at 6:29 am

ABOVE: detail from Chen Xiaoping’s Inhumane, an artwork depicting abuse of practitioners of Falun Dafa by Chinese authorities. A show of Falun Gong/Falun Dafa art is on tour in the U.S. right now to publicize the brutal Chinese crackdown.

Let’s ease back from the Independence Day long weekend by contemplating tyranny, this time in the form of the Chinese government hassling adherents of Falun Gong, the tao-Buddhish martial-art/millenial cult/political agitator network (depending on who you believe) that doesn’t enjoy the freedom to have barbecues, fireworks, bottomless white russians, or much else in China right now. While you were enjoying that tasty salmonburger and the occasional M-80 yesterday, for example, pregnant Falun Gong/Dafa (apparently these terms are interchangeable) practitioners were being beaten in excrement-smeared prisons for their adherence to the teachings of Li Hongzhi, who started Falun Gong in 1992 and appears to be, at the very least, seriously eccentric. At least, that’s what the paintings say.

This is all leading up to the main point, which is that Falun Gong is currently touring a generous handful of violent, lurid artworks around the country to publicize their persecution in China. The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story yesterday about the touring show and how it is stirring up some controversy because of the dark subject matter. The show, they note, was pulled from New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine last year because it was freaking out the frail patients. Now, we don’t want to pass judgment, and while Falun Gong has a flavourful little ripple of cultish tendencies, it does appear to be mostly some old fashioned qigong exercises with a stated focus on “Truthfulness, Benevolence, and Forebearance”; undoubtedly noble sentiments. But the paintings in the Falun Gong art exhibit are a wee bit over the top, as you can see in their online art exhibit. We know already that the Chinese government treats these people very poorly. Whether it’s quite as bad as depicted here, we don’t feel qualified to say. Happy Independence Day indeed.

LINK: San Francisco Chronicle > Provocative art from Falun Gong followers Paintings on tour to publicize China’s alleged persecution