Croatia: Wishing the Croatian People Lifelong Happiness Filled with Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance

On April 12th and 13th 2003, Australian artist Zhang Cuiying successfully held an exhibition of her paintings and a press conference in Zagreb, the capital city of Croatia.

During the two-day event, people came to a deeper understanding about the brutal persecution of Falun Gong through the painter’s works and her personal experiences of brutal suffering whilst wrongly imprisoned in China. People also realised the beauty that comes from practising “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” and pledged their support for Falun Dafa and their best wishes for the practitioners’ who are working hard to end the persecution, by writing greetings in the exhibition hall visitors’ book.

A group of local residents, together with their parents and five children, who came to see the art exhibition	Practitioners introduced Falun Gong to the audience
Policemen, sent to protect the exhibition and practitioners, watching the artist paint with great interest	A local newspaper published an article about the exhibition and the persecution of Falun Gong in China

Initially, the exhibition could not be held at the scheduled venue. However, with the help of some kind-hearted Croatian people, practitioners found another temporary exhibition hall. The head of Amnesty International in Zagreb contacted the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform them about the exhibition and the events at. Zhang Cuiying’s exhibition in Romania, where two Chinese Embassy officials attempted to stop her exhibition by using physical violence against a Dafa practitioner. In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs arranged for police protection to be present at the exhibition.

When the exhibition was over, a press conference was held to discuss the persecution of Falun Gong. Around ten members of the local media came to the press conference and interviewed Zhang Cuiying. The biggest newspaper in Croatia reported on the exhibition one day before it opened and they also published details of the press conference on the next day.

At the press conference, practitioners introduced Falun Gong and demonstrated the exercises for the reporters. They also outlined the four years of brutal persecution in China, as well as the lawsuits against Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin. Reporters watched the exercise demonstration and a video documentary about the persecution in China. Some reporters requested information for their colleagues.

At the conclusion of the exhibition, Zhang Cuiying said, “Thank you for the support that has made my exhibition proceed smoothly and on time. I wish you lifelong happiness and lives filled with Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.”

Translated from Chinese at http://yuanming.net/articles/200304/19767.html