(TibetanReview.net, Sep26’24) – Musee du quai Branly, one of the two well-known museums in France targeted by groups of Tibet and Tibetan protesters over recent days for depicting “Tibet” as “Xizang” in apparent deference to China’s propaganda demands, has on Sep 25 expressed deep regret and promised to rectify its mistake as quickly as possible.
The museum expressed sincere apologies and fully acknowledged the oversight in its recent exhibit. It recognizes the strong political implications of the issues currently unfolding in Tibet and deeply regrets any misstepts that may have occurred, said a press release from the six Tibet and Tibetan groups after their representatives’ meeting with the museum’s representative Mr Clemens Tougeron.
Tougeron, who is the international affairs advisor to the museum’s president, has said visitors can expect to see these changes implemented in the museum within three weeks.
The museum has also assured the protest representatives that it values open dialogue with communities and will continue working closely with Tibetan associations to ensure respectful and accurate representation in all its exhibits.
Pema Rinchen, President of the Tibetan Community of France, led the discussion, said the press release which was issued on the letterhead of The Tibetan Community of France and its Friends (La Communaute Tibetaine de France et ses Amis).
Meanwhile the Tibet and Tibetan groups have vowed to continue their protest before Musee Guimet, another well-known museum in France, until they rectify their erroneous depiction of Tibet as “Xizang” under the theme of the “Himalayan World”.
Earlier, a group of experts accused the two renowned museums of having complied with Chinese demands to rewrite history and erase the identities of non-Han peoples., including Tibetans, who have been assimilated or annexed by the PRC.
This disturbing trend has raised concerns about the preservation of diverse cultural narratives and the autonomy of historical representation in museum settings, noted the decotidien.com in the first week of this month.
China last year decided to use the Chinese Pinyin term “Xizang” to refer to “Tibet” in all its official documents to make the point that the issue of Tibet no longer exists, that the territory it refers to applies only to the western half of Tibet proper, which it calls “Xizang Autonomous Region” or simply “Xizang”.