The Tibet Museum at CONIFA women’s world football cup

Players of Sapmi women’s football team reading the Tibet Museum’s Brochure to acquaint Tibet and Tibetan

The Tibet Museum at CONIFA women’s world football cup

1st July, 2022: For the CONIFA Women’s World Cup organized by Tibetan National Sports Association (TNSA) at Paonta Cholsum Tibetan Settlement, the Tibet Museum, Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) was invited for a two-day (30th June and 1st July) exhibition. The exhibition titled ‘Pictorial biography of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’ and ‘Tibet’s Journey into exile’ was put on display in the auditorium of Sambhota Tibetan school Paonta adjacent to the school’s football ground. A welcome session for the participating teams as well as for the chief guests, the host settlement, Poanta Cholsum performed a number of cultural dances and the overall preparation was truly inspiring, splendid and exhilarating.

The president of CONIFA, Mr. Per Anders Blind, Mr. Palden Dhondup la, Secretary of Department of Health, CTA, Mrs. Tenzin Dolma la, President of Tibetan Women’s Association, Mrs. Tsering Dolma la, Vice President of Tibetan Women’s Association and Mr. Tenzin Rinchen, Director of Tibetan National Sports Association were among the main chief guests for the event. Representing The Tibet Museum, Karma Tashi and Tenzin Jinpa presented the guests with Museum’s souvenir.  

Members of establishment 22 (Special Frontier Force) band group carefully going through the exhibition

The following day on 1st July, a grand opening ceremony of CONIFA Women’s World Cup was held with the presence of aforementioned guests and a large number of audiences. First match of the tournament was played between the Tibetan Women’s football team and Sapmi women’s football team. In between the intermission, spectators visited the exhibition site and the elderly Tibetans specifically were more absorbed while going through the collection of rare photographs, few even identifying people and places they have known. Altogether, CONIFA Women’s World Cup participants, guests, people of the settlement old and young, and members of the establishment 22 band group actively participated and showed great enthusiasm in our exhibition.

Players of Tibetan women’s football team going through the Pitctorial biography of His Holiness the Dalai lama

To summarize, the duration of exhibition was short yet impactful and a great learning experience for the visitors as well as for the Museum. We would like to extend heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to TNSA for inviting us for the exhibition and the people of settlement for helping us in all the possible ways and for their kind hospitality. We are looking forward to further collaborations in the future. 

Reported by Tenzin Jinpa

Audience going through the Exhibition setup