The Tibet Museum participated in Federation of International Human Rights Museums- Asia Pacific (FIHRM-AP) Annual conference 2023 in Taipie, Taiwan.

The Chief Guest of the event was Sue Wang (王時思), Deputy Culture Minister of Taiwan and representative Kalsang Gyaltsen Bawa from the Office of Tibet-Taiwan 達賴喇嘛西藏宗教基金會 Tibet Religious Foundation of HH the Dalai Lama and other friends of Tibet also participated.

In 2010, the FIHRM was established with the mission to encourage museums to engage with sensitive and controversial human rights issues. The organisation advocates that all museums need to deal with difficult and controversial issues within their respective context. Therefore, through sharing, collaboration and learning from each other, more museums can be enabled to engage in human rights practices, taking the initiative to challenge various forms of racial discrimination, prejudice and human rights violations.

FIHRM-AP was established in 2019 during the ICOM Kyoto Conference and has since actively

organized a series of human rights-related activities. In 2020, in collaboration with 29 museums and non-profit organizations within the United Nations, we organized the Migration and Human Rights collaborative learning program. In October 2021, we presented the results of the collaborative learning on migration and human rights through the special exhibition Ayo! Ayo!

Tomorrow Must Be Better, allowing the public to gain a deeper understanding of migrant worker issues. In 2022, we continued to hold the Climate Change and Human Rights collaborative learning program. This program engaged 18 organizations, including museums, environmental and human rights non-profit organizations, in discussions related to climate issues. Our museum was also invited to the International Conference on Open Access to Culture in Japan, where we presented

the Ayo-Ayo! Tomorrow Must Be Better special exhibition in Japan. In 2023, the National Human Rights Museum of Taiwan is taking the initiative by hosting the FIHRM-AP annual conference in Taiwan for the first time. Held under the theme Synergizing for Human Rights: Collaboration Between Museums and Communities in the Asia-Pacific Region, the conference invites experts and scholars in human rights from the Asia-Pacific region and internationally to jointly advocate human rights issues.

This year’s conference introduces five major subtopics: Leveraging Museums for Human Rights Practice, Engaging with Communities to Advocate Human Rights, Migration and Human Rights Challenges across Borders, Narratives of Negative Heritage Sites Transformed into Museums and Memorial Institutions, and Interdisciplinary Human Rights Collaboration: Synergy and Reverberation. For this year’s conference, we have gathered research papers, cases, and

practical studies on human rights issues from around the world. These materials explore various topics, including using museums as a means to practice and promote human rights education, spearheading discussions on human rights issues through community collaboration, igniting public interest in the rights of immigrants and migrant workers, transforming negative heritage into museum or commemorative institutions, and harnessing interdisciplinary cooperation to create innovative media. Attendees will have the opportunity to conduct in-depth exchanges and discussions on each of these subtopics, thus advancing international dialogue on human rights issues.

Since its inception, FIHRM-AP has aimed to establish itself as a platform that unites the museum sector and human rights experts. This conference is a realization of this vision, and we hope that this event will contribute to the realization of human rights ideals. Through sharing experiences and community collaboration, we aspire to bring new insights and inspiration to the international community. This conference is not just an opportunity for academic exchange but also a chance to highlight the values of human rights. Together, let us embark on a journey of discovery,

exploring innovative museum practices and their profound social influence, all the while fervently championing human rights!