Art Exhibit Displays Hidden Side of China
NTD Television
Beauty emerging from a brutal reality of persecution. These 28 paintings currently on display at the Vancouver Central Library present a side of China hidden under the facade of expansion and development.
[Joy Benedict, Philosophical Artist]:
“Why it was painted in this style? Because it is photo realistic and it’s more explainable and it’s straight to the point, it doesn’t show everything like glorious, it show the suffering of the people of Falun Dafa for their belief.”
This is the International Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance Art Exhibit. The pictures depict the principles of the Falun Dafa cultivation practice—a spiritual meditation practice that has been banned by the Chinese regime since 1999.
Today, adherents of Falun Dafa are still being persecuted and incarcerated for their beliefs.
But the paintings, mostly done through traditional oil painting techniques, convey a message of beauty.
[David Worthington, Voice Editor]:
“It’s gorgeous, there’s lots of color and beauty. The people are so lifelike, which is wonderful and very beautiful. The paintings are very beautiful and have beautiful images in them, but some of them have beautiful images and harsh realities that are happening in China, which is also beautiful to look at.”
The photo-like depictions overcome the cultural barriers to deliver a message.
[Joy Benedict, Philosophical Artist]:
“Well I really like it for the main reason that instead of being abstract, it is very photo realistic, which is a language of normal people who may not speak the language, or understand Mandarin. A picture is better than a thousand words.”
The artwork helped the public to understand the stories of Falun Dafa practitioners, and how they’re treated in China.
[David Worthington, Voice Editor]:
“Well first I thought it was a Buddha type organization, which I guess it kind of is, it’s about spirituality, and faith and believing in a Buddha and a god. It seems like in China, for some reason they don’t want people to believe in these kind of faiths and they have issues with it, and people have actually gone to jail or been murdered because of their faith in believing in this culture, which is quite hard to believe.”