Tibet Museum in Dharamsala celebrates 39th International Museum Day
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, May 18: The Tibet Museum of the Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR), Central Tibetan Administration located near Tsug-lag-Khang, the main temple in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala today joined museums around the world to mark the celebration of the 39th International Museum Day with a three-day long event from May 18 – 20, 2016.
Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, the Chief Guest for the occasion started the celebration by lighting a butter Lamp which represents the illumination of wisdom according to Tibetan culture.
Mr Tashi Phuntsok, Director of the Tibet Museum, briefed the programmes and activities undertaken by the Tibet Museum and highlighted the achievement of the Tibet Museum in securing its official website tibetmuseum.org to appear at the forefront of the Google search engine, displacing China’s Tibet Museum located in Lhasa.
The celebratory occasion, attended by the Directors of Tibetan NGOs, principals and students from Mewoen Tsuglag Petoen Model School, Sherab Gatsel Lobling, Lower TCV School, TCV Suja and Sambhota Tibetan School, Chauntara, includes a series of documentary screenings, talks and live demonstration of Thangka (Tibetan Scroll) painting and public talk by Tibet Network’s East Asia Coordinator, Penghsuan Lee on ‘Tibet and Taiwan: Challenges and Opportunities’ lined up for the first day.
Sikyong Sangay launched the museum’s catalogue – ‘A Long Look Homeward’.
Addressing the occasion as the Chief Guest, Sikyong said:
“I am happy to see students from five Schools gathered here. We are entering the 3rd and 4th generation of Tibetans in exile; many of us are born in exile and we resort to our imagination to picture Tibet in our mind. But with the prevailing cultural genocide in Tibet, our culture and identity is facing the risk of extinction and our rich history is at the risk of disappearance. Hence it is very important for our younger generations and students to take a keen interest, study, understand and gain knowledge about our identity, history and culture”.
Sikyong further encouraged the directors of the NGOs in attendance to bring as many visitors to the museum as possible to introduce our culture and history, and to educate about Tibet and its cause.
Details of the three-day event from May 18 – 20, 2016 are as follows:
