The corridors of the Czech Senate display an art exhibition called “Uncompromising Courage”. This exhibition portrays tragic stories of people who have seen the vicious reality of Chinese prisons. The reason for their detention and torture is because they practice a mind-body spiritual practice called Falun Gong. The practice teaches people to live according to the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance in their daily lives. It has been brutally persecuted by the Chinese regime since 1999.
[Alena Paleckova, Senate Vice-chairwoman]: Czech, female
“Falun Gong is not political, there is no institutional nature to it. People join it voluntarily and the mass scale of followers seems to be what scared the Chinese establishment to start this cruel persecution.”
The exhibition displays the strong characters of practitioners of Falun Gong and the brutality many have faced.
[Adolf Jilek, Senator]: Czech, male
“One realizes the contradiction between the teachings and what its followers propagate, and how they are treated. It is a conflict between peace and well-being contrasted with the brutality that you see here, and this directly radiates towards every passer-by.”
The painters are Chinese artists, some of whom endured persecution in the Mainland. Their stories live on in vivid color.
[Karel Sebek, Senator]: Czech, male
“Shame. Such beautiful art has such sad content. Perhaps it could be compared to Christian paintings from the martyrs' period.”
The exhibition was hosted under the patronage of the Senate Vice-chairwoman Alena Paleckova.
[Alena Paleckova, Senate Vice-chairwoman]: Czech, female
“I'm so happy it has caught people's attention and we could raise and spread the awareness about the situation in China and Falun Gong especially.”
The exhibit runs until July 8th.
NTD News, Prague, The Czech Republic
