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  Liverpool Daily Post  August 25, 2011

ART works by followers of a spiritual movement banned by the Chinese government will go on display at the Contemporary Urban Centre tomorrow.

Falun Gong, a form of meditative exercise based on the principles of truth, compassion and tolerance, was outlawed in China in 1999.

A 2007, US government report into international religious freedom stated: “Falun Gong practitioners continued to face arrest, detention, and imprisonment, and there were credible reports of deaths due to torture and abuse.”

Last October, Heiner Bielefeldt, the UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, spoke out against intolerance toward religious groups such as Falun Gong.

However, a member of the Chinese delegation at the same committee meeting insisted all religions “coexist in harmony”.

According to a report by news agency Reuters, she said: “Falun Gong is an evil cult. It is not a minority religion.”

She added it was appropriate for China to severely punish and ultimately “eradicate” Falun Gong.

The exhibition Zhen, Shan, Ren – meaning truth, compassion, tolerance – includes realistic oil paintings and watercolours from mostly Chinese artists that aim to give a unique insight into the spiritual discipline and how it has helped people return to traditional Chinese values.

THE Art of Zhen, Shan, Ren is at CUC Liverpool until September 17.