(Minghui.org) The Art of Zhen, Shan, Ren (Truth, Compassion, Tolerance) International Exhibition, held in March 2012 at Rostov, Russia, was a success. It was on display for 12 days with over 8,000 people having attended the show.
Prior to the opening of the exhibition, we encountered some interference. The president of the regional artists alliance called practitioners in Rostov and said that his boss told him not to host the exhibition. The practitioners asked to meet with him in person and he agreed. One of the practitioners, who was a lawyer, met with him.
This practitioner explained our situation and perspective, and so did the host. The practitioner became somewhat agitated and then realized that his behavior was not in accordance with what Master says about being compassionate toward others. He realized that quarreling would not solve the problem.
The practitioner said, “Mr. Oleg, I've told you my point of view and you've told me yours. Neither of us will compromise. As such, we will not be able to solve the problem.” He then calmed down and asked, “Please tell me, why must you insist on holding this art exhibition?” The practitioner said, “Our exhibition is for helping Falun Gong practitioners in China, who are being persecuted. We are exposing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s persecution of human rights. Russia and China have signed a treaty of friendship. The CCP does not allow news about the persecution of Falun Gong to be exposed in Russia. However, we are helping Russian citizens learn the truth about what is happening in China now.” He replied, “Yes. That's the reason why the exhibition is not allowed.” After some consideration, though, he picked up the phone to notify an employee at the exhibition site to allow us to hold our exhibition. Once he understood about the suppression, his attitude toward our exhibition quickly changed.
However, interference still happened. A few days after the exhibition's opening ceremony, we found lots of fliers containing lies that slandered Falun Dafa pasted on the rear wall. The banner that was hanging in the hall had also been destroyed. Practitioners then cleaned up all of the flyers containing lies and then hung up new promotional banners.
On the same day, police came to the exhibition hall and asked about what had happened. They were holding flyers that slandered Falun Dafa, as well as a slanderous booklet containing more misinformation about Falun Dafa. Practitioners then invited the police to look at their art exhibition and learn about the true situation and judge for themselves. However, they flatly refused.
It was obvious that those police officers believed the lies. They continued to speak rudely, and had no intention of talking with us reasonably. At that point, one practitioner, who was the curator of the exhibition, again invited them to have a look at the paintings in the exhibition. They refused again and said that they would leave negative comments in the guest book. The practitioners told them about the theme of the exhibition, and how those that look at the paintings are left with feelings of mercy, kindness and sympathy.
One police officer noticed a painting of a police officer beating a Falun Dafa practitioner. He said that our paintings were directed at them. A practitioner then invited him to have a look at another painting called “A Song for the Awakening of Conscience.” That painting depicted the story of a police officer who understood the truth about Falun Dafa and who did not want to participate in the persecution. After listening to the story behind the painting, they agreed to let our exhibition continue.
Later, practitioners showed them the guest book, which contained comments on the art exhibition from people who had visited previously. None of the comments had any negative feedback. The officers understood the truth and left in a friendly manner. After that no more interference occurred. The art exhibition was a success, and the other two cities in the region will organize showings of the exhibition, as well.
