The Tibet Museum Launches Shared Journeys Virtual Exhibit in Tibetan Language

Tashi Phuntsok, Director of The Tibet Museum, DIIR, CTA speaking on the designated topic.

Dharamshala: The Tibet Museum of the Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration, presented a webinar titled, ‘Nationhood and Identity: Preserving Lost Heritage’ on Friday, 13 August 2021. In partnership with Asian and Pacific Sites of Conscience Network, the Shared Journeys virtual exhibit and the webinar series is intended to prioritize, highlight, preserve and share the most marginalized and lesser-known facets of the history of the Asian region.

The Shared Journeys exhibition includes the work of 12 member organisations of the Asian and Pacific sites of Conscience Network, representing seven countries. These are Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organisation, The Liberation War Museum from Bangladesh, The Peace Institute of Cambodia, Youth for Peace and Kdei Karuna from Cambodia, Network of Families of the Disappeared and Voices of Women Media from Nepal, The Herstories Project, International Centre of Ethnic Studies and The Institute of Social Development from Sri Lanka, The National Human Rights Museum of Taiwan and the Tibet Museum in India.

The webinar session was hosted by Mr. Tenzin Jinpa, curator and conservator of the Tibet Museum and moderated by the curator of the Shared Journey’s exhibition, Radhika Heittarchchi. After successfully launching the Tibetan version of the website, Mr. Tashi Phuntsok, Director of the Tibet Museum gave an overview of the virtual exhibition in Tibetan language for the Tibetan media centres. The website (https://sharedjourneys.online) is available in ten languages i.e Tibetan, Traditional Chinese, Pashto, Farsi, Bengali, Khmer, Nepali, Sinhalese, Tamil and English. There were three panelists, Mr Tashi Phuntsok, director of the Tibet Museum; Emraan Azad, a researcher at the Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh; and Kiev Sarang, Project coordinator of the Peace Institute of Cambodia.

Director Tashi Phuntsok spoke on the brief history and current situation in Tibet focusing on sinicization, cultural genocide, Bi-lingual policy, demolition of Larung Gar and Yachen Gar and self-immolation in Tibet. The next two panelists Emraan Azad from The Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh and Kiev Sarang from Peace Institute of Cambodia, shared their views and experiences on the given topic with regard to their country’s context.

This webinar aimed for the preservation of the legacy of heritage, the multiple histories of nationhood and the importance of educating the next generation effectively explored via this webinar conducted with the respective panelists and the program successfully ended after an interactive Q&A session.

Tibetan version of the shared journey website launched on 13th August 2021. https://sharedjourneys.online