(Clearwisdom.net) On February 13, 2008, the International Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance Art Exhibition was held in the Paterson Museum in New Jersey. José "Joey" Torres, Mayor of Paterson, personally attended the opening ceremony and welcomed the show on behalf of the City of Paterson. Mayor Torres said that Paterson is a beautiful city that witnessed the the US struggle for independence. He believes that the works of art in the Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance International Art Exhibition will help people become aware of the persecution in China.
José "Joey" Torres, Mayor of Paterson, attended the opening ceremony of the Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition
Several Falun Gong practitioner artists attended the opening ceremony
Sabri M. Taha (left), director of the Darfur Rehabilitation Project and
Practitioner Dai Zhizhen and her daughter, Fadu
There were over 20 works of art in the exhibition. The theme reflected the severe persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, their suffering and their perseverance in adhering to their faith. Several practitioner artists, Wang Weixing, Dong Xiqiang, Zhang Kunlun, Liu Baochun and Chen Xiaoping, who the created some of these works of art, also attended the opening ceremony, introduced their pieces, and shared their experiences in creating them.
Professor Zhang Kunlun, a painter who was illegally detained and tortured in China, spoke about his cultivation practice of Falun Gong, the benefits he achieved from the practice, and his own experience of being persecuted in China. Holding the photo of her husband, who was persecuted to death by the CCP, practitioner Dai Zhizhen and her daughter, Fadu, recounted the persecution their family has suffered.
On the same day as the exhibition, the Global Human Rights Torch Relay was introduced to New Jersey in the same museum exhibition hall. The Human Rights Torch Relay, initiated by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, aims to draw the attention of the international community to the Chinese Communist regime's human rights violations and their compromising the spirit of the Olympic Games and seeks to bring an end to all human rights abuses against the people of China, while highlighting the persecution of Falun Gong. The message of the Torch Relay is that the Olympics and crimes against humanity cannot coexist in China; the 2008 Olympics must not become the "bloody Olympics." Participants at the introduction to the Human Rights Torch Relay also visited the Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance Art Exhibition. The art exhibition had a powerful impact and left a deep impression on some spectators.
Sabri M. Taha, Director of the Darfur Rehabilitation Project, attended the art exhibition and the announcement for the HRTR. After listening to Dai Zhizhen tell about her husband's death, Mr. Taha offered to take a picture with Dai Zhizhen and little Fadu to show his support and promised to publish their experiences in his organization's journal in order to help more people learn about the severe persecution happening in China.
Those attending the opening ceremony of the exhibition and the Human Rights Torch Relay announcement were from all sectors of the community, including President Ray Stever of the New Jersey Industrial Union Council, Board member Alan Dunst from the National Board of Directors of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), representative doctor Damon Noto from Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting, New Jersey branch director Sabri M. Taha of the Darfur Rehabilitation Project, director Tsering Palden from the Tibetan Youth Congress, and organization director and freelance journalist Ms. Barbara Wind from the United Jewish Communities.
