All these objects are part of Tibet’s daily life and are used in religion, rituals, and domestic life. All objects were taken out of Tibet in 1903-1904 during the Younghusband expedition as war trophies. Parts of that expedition were forcefully looted.

 

Throughout history, Tibet endured multiple invasions by various powers including the Mongols, British, and Chinese, resulting in the loss, destruction, and looting of thousands of cultural treasures. Among these tumultuous periods, the invasion of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1950 stands as one of the most tragic chapters, marked by the loss of 1.2 million lives and the destruction of approximately 6,000 monasteries. The Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 exacerbated this devastation, with monasteries and homes being looted and publicly demolished, while numerous artefacts were destroyed or auctioned off in places like Hong Kong.

 

In 1959, during the complete invasion of Tibet, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, along with 80,000 people, were forced into exile. At that time, only a handful of precious objects could be rescued, as the majority believed their departure would be temporary, yet sadly, they never had the opportunity to return.

The Tibet Museum opened in 1998 by His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama for the preservation of Tibetan culture in exile. Till this date for 26 years the museum has archived 40,000 photos related to Tibet and 1000+ objects. Their main aim is to collect, preserve, conserve, and showcase Tibetan culture. The Tibet Museum opened a new exhibition in 2022 titled “I am Tibetan This is My Story” where the museum divided two spaces into permanent and temporary exhibitions, in the permanent exhibition several objects are displayed, each one donated by the Tibetan community in exile. Through these objects, the museum tells facts and stories about Tibetan culture, religion, language, history, struggle, and diaspora situation.

 

So these objects play an important role in telling facts about Tibet’s history and struggle.

If The Tibet Museum gets these objects it is like a step towards returning to the true owner. The Tibet Museum was opened by HH Dalai Lama, the head of Tibet, and it comes under the Department of Information and International Relationship (CTA) which represents Tibetan people from both in and outside Tibet. Getting objects back to the Tibet Museum will send good messages to the world.