TOKYO – JAPAN-BASED supporters of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Monday protested against an exhibition in Tokyo on their Himalayan homeland, in which they say China misrepresents their history.

The exhibit called ‘Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World’ is being held in the Ueno Royal Museum, with China’s embassy and China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage among the official supporters.

‘The world shouldn’t be deceived by this Chinese propagandist exhibition,’ Lhakpa Tshoko, head of the liaison office of the Dalai Lama in Japan and East Asia, said in a statement.

‘The exhibits and the documents at the exhibition are purposely designed to mislead the Japanese public into believing the Chinese government is the benevolent guardian of Tibetan culture,’ he said.

He added that ‘in fact, the opposite is the truth’.

Other organisers and backers of the exhibit include the Japanese daily the Asahi Shimbun, the television network Tokyo Broadcasting System and Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs.

‘If the organisers believe that this exhibition is being done for the Tibetans, then the real historical background of Tibet and reason behind the flight of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the Tibet issue … should be properly displayed and addressed,’ Lhakpa Tshoko said.

The organisers could not immediately be reached for comment. — AFP

I just came back from Japan and I wanted to let you know that the Tibet Exhibit in Tokyo has finally opened at the Ueno Royal Museum.

At the private opening on 18 Sep, I was in front of the museum with Tibetans and Tibet supporters in protest against the exhibit.  Flyers were handed out to people visiting the museum, and a free lecture was organized at the nearby facility, to teach people the truth about the exhibition.  I was speaking with Dolma la, a Tibetan living in Tokyo, who was very upset about the fact that Japanese organizations are making money by taking advantage of Tibet’s precious heritage, without explaining how the artifacts were transferred into Chinese hands.  At the exhibition itself, there is no explanation about the formal resident of Potala Palace (His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama), nor any recent history of Chinese occupation in Tibet.  Ironically, the people responsible for the exhibit stated that it was intended to help promote the understanding of Tibet.  I don’t understand how anyone visiting this exhibit could possibly gain any understanding of Tibet, since it is neither explained objectively nor truthfully.

As Dolma and I  spoke about those issues, we felt compelled to speak to the organizer directly, and later found the man who is the director of Tibet exhibit committee.  His name is Mr. Taisuke Tsurumaki of Daiko Advertisiing Inc.  Yes, we did our own research.  Dolma and I confronted him, and I asked him to listen to the voice of Tibetans.

—–(CONVERSATION)——
Dolma: Those artifacts of the exhibition are ”stolen goods” from Tibet which you brought to Japan to make profit with.　I seriously wonder if that’s an act of justice.

Tsurumaki: Yes..

Makoto: I would like to request to you is that: if you could donate some of the profit from this very successful exhibition to the Tibetan human rights groups in Dharamsala, for example…

Tsurumaki: for the history of the last 50 years…

Makoto: after the invasion, you mean..

Tsurumaki: We must look at the situation (of China and Tibet) from the negative stance – one may say that Tibet was invaded and another liberated. We have to take one side, otherwise, the exhibition could not have taken place.

Makoto: Is that so?

Tsurumaki: We have been extra careful about taking a neutral stance.

Makoto: You think so?　you may think that you did NOT cause any problems , however, Tibetans clearly find it unacceptable. I am sure you understand this … for example, there is an office of the Tibetan government in exile here in Tokyo and I think that you should invite them to this event.　Did you invite the (Tibetan) people whom those artifacts used to belong to?

Tsurumaki: I have no idea whom you are talking about…

Makoto: You are calling this event, “Tibet Exhibition” and you are not inviting the Tibetans in Japan?

Tsurumaki: Tibetans in Japan? Tibetans in Japan?

Makoto:I meant to ask, did you invited any Tibetan people to this event?

Tsurumaki: As far as we are concerned, “There are no Tibetans exist.”　There is only “Tibet tribe” and that’s how we look at it.

Makoto: That is despicable. Do you honestly think so ?

———

A Tibet supporter who is also an activist for the Uyghur issue, videotaped the entire conversation!  Here’s the youtube link:

(Please use Twitter, Facebook and blogs to help spread this youtube video)

We were shocked and saddened by Mr. Tsurumaki’s comments.  The fact that a Japanese organization could be so easily influenced by Chinese propaganda and money, is even more disturbing.  That the corporation he is working for would allow him to so openly make false and derogatory statements about TIbetans is an embarrassment to both the Japanese people and our government.  While it is true that we are a democratic country and have the freedom to express our opinion, it is not acceptable to ignore all moral and human rights issues simply for the sake of profit.  As a Japanese citizen, I am outraged by his conduct and insensitivity for the plight of the TIbetan people worldwide.  We need to greatly improve our efforts to raise awareness about the true nature of this exhibition.

Later, as I stood with Tibetans and Tibet supporters holding up their native flags and banners that read:  “Tibet belongs to Tibetans“, VIP’s with foreign diplomat vehicles came and went without even the slightest acknowledgement of us.  The exhibit’s organizers also did not want them to see us, so many were escorted inside the museum through a back door.  Later, a formal opening ceremony was held outside the exhibit with the same VIP’s and diplomats.

Opening ceremony and protest Video:

There was not a single Tibetan among the guests, excluding one Chinese-speaking Tibetan who is a director at the Tibet Museum in Lhasa, and his family.  The Chinese ambassador to Japan, the director of China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the director of the Tibet Museum, were all warmly welcomed by Japanese sponsors.  My heart sank as I watched and listened to the full fledged Chinese propaganda that appeared to garner support from these Japanese sponsors and guests.  Similar speeches were made about how “China has peacefully liberated Tibet”, and how “China has been making efforts to preserve Tibetan culture”.  For me, it felt more like being in China than in Japan.  When upset Tibetan’s and Tibet supporters interrupted their speeches with “Free Tibet” chants, many of them had tears in their eyes.

We need international pressure to help publicize the truth about the current Tibet exhibit.  His Holiness the Dalai Lama has plans to visit Japan in November, while the exhibition is still taking place.  Using this rare opportunity, we hope to raise awareness in Japan so that in the future, no corporation will promote using the one-sided, Chinese-propaganda-influenced method that has been used to organize this event.

Please contact us immediately if you know any foreign press that might be interested in this issue at:  press@seichi-tibet.com

We would be happy yo send them a press release.

OR

Please write to Mr. Tsurumaki:

Contact:

Mr. Taisuke Tsurumaki

Representative of “Tibet : Stolen Treasure from the Roof of the World” Exhibition Committee

Daiko Advertising, Inc.

Akasaka Park Building, 5-2-20 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Japan

107-6107

Tel: +81-3-6364-8111

Fax:+81-3-5563-8933

Email: publicrelation11@daiko.co.jp

“There is no such a thing as ‘Tibetan person.’ There is a Tibetan tribe (in China,)” he said.

He said it to the Tibetan person who was standing in front of him.

We wonder- when one receives so much money does it make him so vulgar?

Here is the footage of Mr. Tsurumaki that is spreading out so quickly throughout the world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtOdgC5Lfk

Newsweek International

March 14 2005 issue   By Vibhuti Patel

The New York opening of the Rubin Museum of Art’s new exhibit, “Tibet: Treasures From the Roof of the World,” has ignited a hot political controversy. Tibetan refugees picketed what they claimed was a display of the “stolen heritage of Tibetan people,” while Tibetan organizations set up a Website [http://rubinmuseum.org] denouncing the RMA’s decision to “help” the Chinese in their “cultural offensive” to promote China’s image and tourism to Tibet.

At issue: more than 100 treasures drawn from Tibet’s premier art museums – the Potala Palace, the Norbulingka Summer Palace and the Tibet Museum – all removed and shipped abroad by Chinese authorities, who rule Tibet with an iron hand. “The RMA stepped into the middle of our battle for survival,” says Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet.

Curator Caron Smith insists that “these works are not ’stolen’ in a legal sense- our government recognizes Tibet as part of China.” Still, she adds, “the RMA is not against China but, as a museum for Himalayan art, we clearly support Tibet.” The never-before-exhibited objects -paintings, sculptures, seals – are exquisitely worked.

Most are priceless, stunning antiques from the ninth to early 20th centuries; some are crafted in rare media – ivory, conch, turquoise and  coral; others (like textiles woven from “split silk” in which strands are separated to create detailed pictorials) use bygone techniques. But activists insist the pleasure of viewing is tainted by the items’ provenance. “It’s valuable for people to see these works,” says Tibetan scholar Robert Thurman, “but it’s too soon to be working with people who are colonizing Tibet, crushing Tibetans. [RMA founder] Don Rubin liked the beauty of the objects, but it’s like having Hitler send you beautiful objects from a shtetl in Treblinka.”

Pro-Tibet groups have accused New York’s Rubin Museum of presenting  Chinese propaganda in its latest show
by Sue Morrow Flanagan, Financial Times (London)
April 4th, 2005

==

New York’s newest museum, the Rubin Museum of Art, is the latest venue to host a highly controversial exhibition of Tibetan art.

Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World was a coup for the museum world. The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art of Santa Ana, California, worked with Tibet’s Bureau of Cultural Relics and the staff of Lhasa’s three central cultural institutions to bring to the US more than 100 Chinese, Indian, Nepalese, Mongolian and Tibetan sacred and ritual objects. The exhibition spent the early part of 2004 at the Bowers, then moved to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

For the first time, treasures from Lhasa’s Potala Palace, the 300-year-old Vatican of Tibetan Buddhism, from the Norbulinka Summer Palace and the six-year-old Tibet Museum are being seen outside Tibet. And although it is just a glimpse of Lhasa’s remaining glory, this exhibition dazzles the viewer with gold, silver, rubies, pearls, turquoise, jade, red coral, rare silks and
paintings swirling with kings, gods and demons; even a bejewelled, golden cup made from a human skull.

Everywhere, the exhibition has been greeted with protests and demonstrations. On this third leg of the tour, an alliance of the
Students for a Free Tibet, the Tibetan Women’s Association and the Tibetan Youth Congress has denounced the exhibits as stolen “art from Chinese-occupied Tibet”.

One of the most politically significant items on display is the seal of the fifth Dalai Lama. Caron Smith, the Rubin’s chief curator, describes the seal and two similar seals in the exhibit as “a transfer of respect and power between China and Tibet”. The seal  is one of several objects shown in films across China as evidence that Tibet was always an integral part of China. In the past century, thousands have died over how these sacred works of art  have been interpreted, says Robert Barnett, a lecturer in Tibetan Studies at Columbia University. It is perhaps not surprising that museum staff have been obliged to ply their diplomatic skills with Tibetan demonstrators on their doorstep. Peter Keller, the Bowers president, shakes his head: “I’ve never seen artifacts become this political, this sensitive.”

The battle has intensified at the Rubin. Protesters have created a parody website purporting to be the Rubin site and attacking the interpretation of the collection as Chinese propaganda. Although the site acknowledges that the Rubin’s interpretations of sacred objects are an improvement on earlier showings, Lhadon Tethong, executive director of Students for a Free Tibet, sees collusion between the four museums and China’s government. “They know they are participating in a propaganda exercise. They are allowing themselves to become a platform, part of the Chinese strategy.”

Lawyers representing the Rubin were at one time said to be investigating unauthorised press releases on the museum’s
letterhead. But while frowning on internet “trickery”, Smith responds with a mix of exasperation and humour: “We believe in free speech. Let barking dogs lie.”

After watching the Bowers and Houston exhibitions draw fire, the Rubin has tried to defuse tensions by leaving out the Chinese-
prepared catalogue and simplifying artifact interpretations. Smith sees the exhibit as a chance for the Tibetan diaspora “to see parts of their culture that, unless there were museums preserving it and museums exhibiting, would be unavailable”.

But for Tethong, the protest is a cry of rage. In a meeting before the opening, Jeff Watt, another Rubin curator, urged protesters to set aside their differences and simply feel proud of the display of their heritage. Tethong responds angrily: “If Russia had won the cold war and taken over your country, then took the Declaration of Independence on a worldwide tour, how would he feel?”

Yet the protesters and Rubin officials are both eager for the public to see the exhibition. “We are not telling people not to go and see the exhibit,” Tethong says. “But it is damaging if the average person sees it with no mention of the problems. See it, but  know what you are seeing.” Nor are the protesters critical of Tibetans in Tibet who are working with the Chinese to see that their heritage is preserved. “Our issue is not with them,” Tethong says.

In a letter to the Bowers, the Dalai Lama welcomed the exhibition for revealing the magnitude of Tibet’s artistic traditions.
“Despite the wholesale destruction that has taken place in Tibet in recent decades,” he wrote, “some works of art have survived. I hope that such efforts will contribute to saving Tibetan culture from disappearing for ever.”

In the late 1950s, more than 6,000 monasteries and temples with more than 500,000 monks and nuns existed across Tibet. Some monasteries such as Ganden were cities in themselves; some were more than 2,000 years old. By the late 1970s, only eight  monasteries were said to remain. Since then, Barnett notes, more than 1,600 monasteries and sacred sites have been rebuilt through Chinese government or private efforts. Dawa Draba, vice-president of the Tibet Museum, claimed during his visit for the exhibition’s opening that: “The Chinese government has given important attention to (restoring) the cultural relics that were destroyed at that time.” China claims to have spent Dollars 36m (Pounds 19m) on renovations, with another Dollars 40m for further restoration of Potala Palace, Norbulinka Palace and the Sakya Monastery. Yet the US State Department, in its 2004 country report on human rights practices, says many monasteries have never been rebuilt or repaired, while others have been only partially repaired.

For the museum community, the exhibition tests the limits of the  newest code of ethics set by Unesco’s International Council on  Museums, which discourages members from acquiring objects from an  “occupied territory”. However, it has no specific guidance for materials on loan from such a territory.

Despite the depredations of the past – what the Dalai Lama has called “cultural genocide” – the thrust of China’s strategy now
appears to be on bringing economic growth and trade to Tibet with expanded freedoms. The focus is less on objects than on controlling the meaning behind the objects. “It blurs the lines,” Tethong maintains. “We believe the Chinese occupation is going to end. The empire they are holding on to is just not sustainable.”

Smith agrees that “divisions between the Chinese and Tibetans are no longer distinct”. However, she says: “You’re not going to undo Chinese control in Tibet, but it’s up to (the Tibetans) to perpetuate Tibetan culture. It’s very important for all Tibetans to
espouse the culture, to preserve and support it.” She sees China and Tibet as part of a great melting-pot created by centuries of
war, with an assimilation beginning to happen. That may be so. But the melting-pot in which Tibetans find themselves is a crucible not of their own making. ‘Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World’ is at the Rubin Museum of Art, New York, until June, then at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum