Controversy surrounds visiting art exhibit

January 22, 2009 by Bryant Nguyen 

Falun Dafa present ‘Uncompromising Courage’ at UNLV

 

Sometimes art speaks louder than words. 

The Uncompromising Courage Art Exhibition, currently on display in UNLV Student Union Room 213, showcases the unknown struggles and suffering that advocates of Falun Dafa are subjected to under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party. The exhibit is sponsored by the Falun Dafa Association.

“I get so many benefits from Falun Dafa that I began to think what I can do to help people who should have the same rights as me,” said Magala Moa, Falun Dafa Association member. “Evil can do whatever they want to do when people do not know what is going on.”

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a cultivation practice that consists of five exercise sets of gentle movements that are based the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.

The exhibition contains 19 paintings with some of the artwork made by those who ran away from the Chinese government to be able to freely express their beliefs.

One painting in particular called “Golden Lotus” depicts a tragic event nine years ago regarding the torturing of a mother and her 8-month-old son who appealed the ban of Falun Dafa.  The 8-month-old son was shackled and hung upside and died in front of the mother who had died moments later.

A brief description lies next to the painting: “The subjects of the painting are, though physically broken, immortal in spirit. Torture could not destroy the spirit of truth, compassion, tolerance that animated their lives.”

Abuse from the Chinese government has not just been documented in art.  A third party investigation report by two Canadian lawyers regarding the human rights violations in China stated, “China, according to its constitution, is ruled by the Communist Party. It is not ruled by law,” and goes on to say, “the communist regime has killed more innocents than Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia combined. Religious belief is suppressed.” 

“In the Western World, you are free to choose what you believe in,” said exhibition coordinator Jessica Huang. “In China, they will tell you what to believe and anything else is unacceptable.”

The Falun Dafa Association chose to hold their art exhibit at UNLV due to their free speech zone and abundance of young and bright minds.

“UNLV has a lot of students and professors,” said Moa. “It always starts with people who have conviction and then the people will follow.”

Controversy is nothing new to the Falun Dafa Association. Recent demonstrations in Chinatown were met with a handful of people retaliating. Even controversy found the advocate group this past summer on campus with Chinese UNLV students protesting in response to the group’s Human Rights Torch Relay.

“We get a negative response in Chinatown from the people who get their information from China,” Moa said. “Last year during the Human Rights Torch Relay, 10 to 15 students gave us trouble.”

Moa visits Washington D.C every year during the anniversary of the Falun Gong persecution that began in July 20, 1999.

“I hope the government and people can add pressure to stop this,” Huang said.

The art exhibit ends its UNLV run tonight at 11 p.m.