(Clearwisdom.net) From June 2 to June 17, 2005, the "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition was held for the first time in Melbourne, Australia. The paintings were exhibited in the Victoria Artists Association art gallery and at an exhibition hall in a downtown telecommunication building.

Representative from Amnesty International Robyn Kilpatrick giving a speech

Artist Ms. Zhang Cuiying, who has suffered severe persecution in China because of her practice of Falun Gong, delivering a speech

At the opening ceremony, a representative from Amnesty International, Ms. Robyn Kilpatrick, and artist Ms. Zhang Cuiying, who has suffered severe persecution in China due to her practice of Falun Gong, each delivered a speech. Ms. Kilpatrick said, "These paintings vividly depict the persecution suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in China. We are shocked upon viewing them. In particular, in this painting entitled, 'Why', that little boy's puzzled eyes lead us adults to ask ourselves, 'Why?' 'Why is this kind of brutal thing still occurring?'" Artist Zhang Cuiying highly praised these paintings. She believed that the paintings displayed a very high standard of artistic skill, and the inner meaning of each work was profound.

Many visitors were deeply moved by the rich connotation and the real stories behind each of the paintings. Some shed tears when viewing them. Several Falun Gong practitioners voluntarily came to guide visitors through the exhibit, to help them understand the meaning of each painting. Many visitors and staff members in the gallery learned about Falun Gong and the facts of the persecution in China. At the closing ceremony, the film "Sandstorm," which exposes the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, was featured. A number of media outlets including the Ages, NTDTV, Sound of Hope Radio Network and the Epoch Times reported on the art exhibition.

"Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition

The hall in the downtown telecommunication building is a busy place, where constant streams of people come and go. The exhibition attracted numerous visitors. People would come into the building to view the art exhibition before or after work, at lunch break or during the time when they waited for buses outside the building. Lots of people in the city and suburbs received flyers about the art exhibition. Managers from all the companies in this building received fine invitation letters with lotus flowers. They were all very supportive of the art exhibition. A printing company was very supportive and offered to print flyers free of charge.

A visitor saw with his celestial eye that Buddha and God's light shone from the paintings to the world. Another person had a strong desire to view the paintings as soon as he received the flyer. He took a day off and stayed at the exhibition hall for the whole day. A young woman downtown was suddenly drawn by a strong power to come view the paintings. At that moment, practitioners were setting up the paintings. She became the first visitor. She said, "These paintings really shocked me. It is too terrible that the torture is still happening now." She added, "But I noticed that these Falun Gong practitioners are really extraordinary. Although suffering from such tortures, their expression is so peaceful, kind and steadfast." After listening to practitioners' explanation about Falun Gong and the persecution, the young woman immediately asked how she could become as good as practitioners. A practitioner recommended a Dafa website to her and told her that she could read the Falun Gong books online. She also told the young woman about local practice sites. The visitors were all very happy to listen to the practitioners' cultivation stories.

The "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition was very effective in exposing the evil, and made the evil very fearful. As a result, pressure was put on people in charge of the telecommunication building, demanding that practitioners remove some of the paintings depicting the tortures. Their excuse was that some people would not want to see such cruel scenes. The practitioners realized the severity of the issue and strengthened their righteous thoughts. They clarified the facts to the building managers and collected signatures from staff members in the building and people passing by. Many people expressed their support for the exhibition as soon as they learned the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. Some even directly went to speak with the building manager and requested that she not remove the paintings. During this process, more people learned about the truth of Falun Gong. Although the building manager used the excuse of pressure from above and did not approve the practitioners putting some of the paintings back on the display boards, she did not demand that practitioners remove the paintings outside the exhibition hall. She silently agreed that practitioners could put those paintings against the wall to display to visitors. Using this situation as an opportunity, practitioners explained the cruelty of the Chinese communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong and how the persecution has been extended to countries outside China.

The "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" Art Exhibition will continue to be held in Melbourne and other areas in Australia.