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Chinese Painting and Photo Exhibitions in Iceland Warmly Received by Icelandic Citizens and Government Officials (Photos)

Oct. 1, 2002

(Clearwisdom.net) Through coordinated efforts of practitioners from several countries, the Journey of Falun Dafa Photo Exhibition and Zhang Cuiying's Chinese Painting Exhibition were successfully held in City Hall of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.

Official from the Department of Cultural Affairs presents paintings by Icelandic Artists to Zhang Cuiying City Councilors visit the exhibition before the opening and take photos with practitioners Painting and Photo Exhibition is held from September 25 to 29, 2002 in City Hall
Icelandic MPs visit the Journey of Falun Dafa exhibition Practitioner demonstrates Chinese traditional painting techniques to visitors Monk from Thailand is eager to learn Falun Dafa

On the first day of the exhibition, the Icelandic national TV station reported on the exhibition during their evening news program. The report used "Pudu" as the background music and brought Dafa music to thousands of families. During the exhibition, Australian artist Zhang Cuiying told visitors about the benefits she has obtained in both mind and body through Falun Dafa cultivation and how Falun Dafa has made her art even purer. She also exposed the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong through her own experience in Chinese jails.

While the Icelandic people were enjoying the art and photo exhibition, the battle between righteousness and evil continued. Officials from the Chinese Embassy in Iceland constantly interfered and tried everything to sabotage the exhibition. The day before the opening of the exhibition, an official from the embassy came to the exhibition and tried to get practitioners to cancel the exhibition. Practitioners resolutely pointed out that he did not have the right to interfere. Finally the official had no choice but to leave.

In addition, the Chinese Embassy repeatedly exerted pressure on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and city officials, demanding an end to the photo exhibition. These unreasonable demands were denied. A city official resolutely said after learning about the request, "Not a single photo should be taken down. This is Iceland, not China." The exhibitions garnered a lot of support from the city government. They offered the exhibition hall free of charge and provided much help during the exhibition.

After learning about the interference from the Chinese government, an Icelandic citizen pointed out the heart of the matter, "They are just afraid of people knowing the truth." People were shocked to know that just because the artist said, "Falun Dafa is good," she was detained for 8 months.

A lady said after the exhibition, "The energy field of this exhibition is very strong." A staff member of City Hall said, "I also enjoy painting, but these paintings are so pure." When he learned that the exhibition would last for 5 days, he said happily, "Then I could come back again."

A professor in Iceland University looked at the photos in detail while listening to the practitioners' introduction of Dafa and the situation in China. He said that he wanted to read Falun Gong books but did not know where to find them. The practitioners happily fulfilled his request.

During the photo exhibition, practitioners also took the opportunity to clarify the truth to various government officials and community leaders.