Colombia: Art Exhibition Held in over 30 Shopping Centers and Art Galleries

(Minghui.org) During the pandemic in 2020, we kept the Art of Zhen Shan Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) International Exhibition artworks in storage. To introduce Falun Dafa to more people through these paintings, practitioners in Medellin, Colombia, started to look for exhibition venues in residential areas, colleges, and shopping centers.

Since shopping centers are eager to attract more customers, we approached them with the idea of having the art exhibition there. Fortunately, Los Molinos, one of the major shopping malls in Columbia, agreed and announced the event through its social media network.

The Art of Zhen Shan Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) International Exhibition was held at the Los Molinos Shopping Center in January 2021

The result was so overwhelming that the shopping mall asked practitioners to collect information on how many customers visited the exhibition per hour every day. It was a large venue with numerous entrances. Despite these challenges, practitioners were able to record that an average of 350 people viewed the artworks per day. Since the exhibition went on for a month, the total attendees were estimated to be over 10,000.

Noticing the good outcome, other shopping centers also invited us to hold art exhibitions. We continued this effort with 8 additional shopping centers in the region. As the second largest city in Colombia, Medellin has about 2.6 million people in the city and over 3.7 million in the metro area.

We decided to continue holding the art exhibition. Very often we were able to get ready for the next venue before the previous exhibition was over. This way, we covered many areas in northwest Colombia. This not only helped Colombians get to know Falun Dafa, but also saved us the cost of storage.

Art exhibition at La Florida shopping center in October 2021

Art exhibition at Unicentro shopping center in March 2022

We made a list of all the large shopping centers in the area. A package would be submitted to each one containing a letter and list of past events in other shopping centers. The number of attendees, photos, and videos were also included. We then scheduled a meeting with the shopping center management and discussed tentative dates.

Besides displaying the artwork, we also demonstrated the exercises and offered to show people how to do them for free, next to the art exhibition areas. The practitioners said they were happy to share Falun Dafa with others. Following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, practitioners have constantly improved themselves while letting go of negative elements such as complaints and laziness, as well as their attachment to comfort.

Cooperation is very important. Practitioners were able to get rid of selfishness and work together to resolve any issues that came up. Many practitioners worked 7 days a week, until 8 p.m. every day. The feedback was great. Attendees were amazed by the huge benefits of Falun Dafa, both physically and spiritually, and were shocked by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) brutality. Many were interested in learning more about the practice.

There were also interesting stories in this process. One influential shopping center initially turned down the practitioners’ request to hold an art exhibition. Then during the exhibition in another shopping center, one customer was impressed and said he hoped to meet the coordinator of the exhibition. It turned out he was an executive of the shopping center who had turned down our request. The following discussion went well and an exhibition was held in the executive’s workplace.

“As long as we do our best and really clarify the truth well, Master Li (founder of Falun Dafa) will help us work things out,” one coordinator said when he recalled this experience.

So far, Falun Dafa practitioners have held the art exhibitions in 30 shopping centers and art galleries in the Medellin area. The total number of attendees are estimated to be 110,000.

An art teacher and his students visit the exhibition.

Art exhibition at El Retiro cultural center.

Currently this art exhibition is taking place in Bello, a suburb of north Medellin. From there it will go to Itagui, suburb of south Medellin, followed by La Estrella. Located south of Itagui, La Estrella is also known as Green Municipality. Practitioners also plan to hold similar events in the capital city, Bogota.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.