(TibetanReview.net, Jun24, 2011) Hollywood star Richard Gere on Jun 22 expressed concern at the torture and killing in Tibet during a visit to South Korea to promote an exhibition of photos he had taken in the Chinese occupied Himalayan territory, according to agency reports Jun 22. “I think it’s impossible to look at these photographs and not realise the extraordinary suffering of the Tibetan people. There’s one really strong image there that is undeniable,” he was quoted as saying at the exhibition’s opening.
AFP cited him as saying some of the images in the exhibition illustrated the political oppression faced by the Tibetan people.
A practicing Buddhist and Tibet supporters since the 1970s, Gere was quoted as saying, “I must say I felt very emotional seeing these photographs, because they really are a part of my very deep and intimate experience with my Tibetan brothers and sisters.”
One photo was reported to show several drawings depicting the torture of Tibetan nuns by Chinese authorities. AFP cited Gere as saying he found the drawings on the wall of a Tibetan Buddhist convent in Dharamsala, India. “The same kind of torture, the same kind of deaths… in Chinese prisons in Tibet are still taking place today,” Gere, who appeared before US Congress in early Jun’11 to urge greater US support for Tibetan rights, was quoted as saying.
The exhibition “Pilgrim: Photography by Richard Gere” featured photographs taken by Gere in 1998-99 and continues till Jul 24 at V-Gallery, Seoul Arts Center.