Having recently visited Tibet, South Australian documentary maker, Lara Damiani, said that Lhasa’s Tibet Museum is a painful farce.
The museum proudly boasts that it was “opened in October 1999 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 40th anniversary of Tibet’s Democratic Reform” and ”built under the kind care of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China”.
“Sadly, it’s just another piece of Chinese Government propaganda designed to distort the truth with displays and signage illustrating a very dishonest view of Tibetan history” she said. “I wasn’t allowed to film in the museum and within a few minutes of entering and seeing the farcical historical display I immediately understood why.”
Professional photographer Claudio Raschella, who accompanied Lara on the trip to Tibet, was able to take some photos of the displays in question. Propaganda within the museum displays includes sentences such as:
“Thanks to the cordial concern of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council and under the correct leadership of the Party Committee and local government of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, marked success has been achieved in the construction of Tibetan economy and culture…”
“Across the space of history, we see the contributions made by the Tibetan people in building up the brilliant culture of the Chinese nation and in national unification which brings us under the profound impression that the prosperity, decline, glory and humiliation of Tibet are always intimately connected to the fate of our great Motherland.”
Lhasa’s Tibet Museum was built in 1999. It is an impressive building of 23,508m 2. Visitors initially encounter the “Tibet is Inalienable in History” hall which holds a small historical display that makes them feel as though they had just stepped into 1950’s communist China. Even the English audio tour, narrated with cheesy Americanised pronunciation, offers an offensive audio recording of a concocted history.
“Like most of the Chinese-written history of Tibet, the museum contains displays mentioning things like the ‘peaceful liberation of Tibet’ which is an offence to the truth and what really happened. There is as much irony in the Tibet Museum as there is in the massive red Chinese flag that flies high in front of the Potala Palace” said Lara.
The Tibet Museum has a significant amount of visitors each year – many of these being Chinese tour groups. Sadly, this museum may be the only exposure that many will have to the history of Tibet.
As time is running out for Tibet, it is now up to media worldwide to do as much as possible to expose the truth. Adelaide filmmakers Lara Damiani and Alex Alexander are on a quest to share this truth with the world in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics with their documentary “The Tibet Project: No Currency in Compassion”.
The documentary which has been filmed in India, Tibet, Australia and China includes prominent Tibetans in exile Lhasang Tsering and Tenzin Tsundue as well as His Holiness the Dalai Lama. It is scheduled for release at the end of this year.
For more information, visit www.thetibetproject.com
Or call Lara Damiani +61 8 8232 1670 or email lara@thekollectiv.com
