Sweden: The Art of Zhen Shan Ren on the West Coast Island of Styrsö in the Gothenburg Archipelago

(Minghui.org) The Art of Zhen Shan Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) International Exhibition was on display at Galleri Öbergska on the island Styrsö in the Gothenburg archipelago on the Swedish west coast from July 25 to August 7, 2020.

During these special times, it was a powerful exhibition that was very much appreciated. Many visitors appeared grateful to learn more about Falun Gong by spending time with the exhibition’s exquisite paintings.

The gallery is located on the second floor of Öbergska huset, a historic house, now a cultural center, surrounded by a large beautiful garden. There is an outdoor café in the garden.

There were several challenges to presenting this exhibition due to the pandemic. A few weeks before the exhibition opened, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus (Covid-19) appeared on another island nearby. That island lost many tourists and other visitors. We decided to continue promoting our exhibition, which was the right decision. It was important to travel to Styrsö and promote the exhibition on site, talk to the locals, and present the exhibition to them. Our presence there before the opening created a good relationship with the local residents.

Given the pandemic, we limited the number of visitors in the gallery at any time. Outside the entrance is a small porch, where there was always someone keeping track of the number of visitors in the gallery at any one time who also gave out flyers to those who were waiting. The flyers contained information about the exhibition and a brief introduction. This was a good way of contacting many visitors who then went in to see the exhibition.

Next to the gallery is a large park by the sea where we did the Falun Gong exercises every morning before the gallery opened. It was good to be outdoors and get in touch with people. More and more people came to the practice site, and then visited the exhibition. We advertised both the art exhibition and the Falun Gong practice on two local Facebook pages that reached out to people in the nearby area.

There were many nice meetings and in-depth conversations with visitors during the exhibition, and many expressed appreciation for the guided tours, which they wrote about in the guestbook. Several local artists visited the exhibition.

Unaccompanied children once came without their parents, so we asked them where their parents were and if their parents knew where they were. They said their parents did not want to see the exhibition, while the children were determined not to miss it. A young boy showed us the flyer he had been given and that he had saved in his backpack. The children were very grateful to see the exhibition and happy to receive paper lotus flowers.

A couple of quotes from the guestbook:

“Truth, compassion, tolerance. How can it be so provocative that people are tortured to death. A really moving exhibition!”

“Very interesting exhibition with such an important message. I will take with me everything I learned from here and pass it on. Thank you for the lotus flower!”