As the final flickers and flares of the Festival fireworks melted into the ancient stones of Edinburgh, the Art of Zhen Shan Ren had already begun the next move on its international tour. It travels from near the prestigious Royal Mile in Edinburgh city centre towards Falmouth and Sidmouth on the Southwest English coast for more shows in October.
The collection of paintings reveal the tradition, practice, and persecution of Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, a peaceful spiritual discipline rooted in the concepts of Truthfulness (Zhen), Compassion (Shan), and Tolerance (Ren).
The paintings employ both Western and Eastern techniques of oil on canvas, and ink and watercolour on silk, and were seen by an average of 200 viewers each day in the July and August exhibitions in Leeds and London.
City Councillor Cameron Rose was at the private viewing in Edinburgh. He was particularly struck by one of the paintings illustrating the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China, showing police officers intruding into someone’s house.
“The contrasting colours there between the yellow and the black are quite striking, illustrating the background concept and belief,” he said.
“I come from a Christian tradition, I am a Christian, and it affects my life on a daily basis and I see some of the parallels, for instance of judgement, divine judgement,” he said about the exhibition as a whole.
On display are images of Eastern and Western Gods in conflict with evil elements on Earth. Many people viewing the paintings have referred to the religious paintings of Michelangelo and the 16th-century Renaissance painters of Italy.
“I believe in a historical basis for the faith which I hold,” said Councillor Rose, “but seeing the parallels – the dependence on culture, traditional culture, going back many, many years, or many generations – these are concepts which are meaningful to me in the stream that I come from.”
