PHILADELPHIA—Since 2002, at events all across North America to educate the public about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, a petite woman gingerly moves through the crowds. With a serene countenance and a large, digital camera she documents the efforts of Falun Gong practitioners to shed light on the brutality inflicted on the practitioners by the Chinese Communist Party.
In early May the Sedgwick Gallery in Philadelphia's Mount Airy neighborhood displayed striking photos by photographer Nathea Lee about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Her photograph of "Annie," taken on April 20, 2006 in Washington D.C. during a press conference, shows an immediacy that underlies the subject's message. Annie, a former nurse, using this pseudonym, stepped forward to detail how the Chinese military has been harvesting organs from live Falun Gong practitioners though a system of concentration camps and medical facilities.
Annie described how her former husband, an eye specialist, was coerced into performing cornea removals from the practitioners. Referring to Annie, Lee said, "Her courage in coming forward was critical in helping practitioners and their supporters investigate the scope of organ harvesting sanctioned by the CCP."
The timing of Lee's exhibit is connected to the Olympics. "The Chinese government promised to improve its human rights practices as a condition of hosting the Games but instead has cracked down on Falun Gong practitioners and other groups throughout China. I thought it would be a good time to inform or remind the public about the persecution," said Lee.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual cultivation practice that includes five sets of exercises to purify the body and teachings to improve the mind based on the universal principles of Zhen, Shan, Ren—Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance. Seven years after its introduction, a state survey revealed that 70 to 100 million people across China were practicing. The CCP then banned Falun Gong and began a violent campaign against its practitioners. Today, it is freely practiced in more than 80 countries.
Lee began practicing in 2001 while living in Washington D.C. and quickly became involved in the efforts to stop the persecution. In 2003 Lee even went to Tiananmen Square to join other Western practitioners who intended to do the Falun Gong exercises on the square.
However, the CCP knew they were coming and arrested most of the Western practitioners before they arrived. Lee recounted, "My traveling partner and I were stopped five times and constantly watched by the police. We found out when we were flying out of China that police arrested virtually every non-Chinese person on Tiananmen Square that day. We were fortunate not to be arrested ourselves and just spent time doing a special meditation before we left the Square."
Another of Lee's favorite photos is 'Silenced," of a March 25, 2006 public awareness event in New York City. The participants are gagged and bound to represent the suppression of information about the persecution among the Chinese people.
Photography began as a hobby for Lee, and later blossomed into an endeavor of fine art. However, Lee has twenty-five years in arts administration and public relations, enabling her easily to organize the photography show.
To see more of Lee's work about the efforts of practitioners of Falun Gong, visit: Nathea.Lee.printroom.com.
Feeds