On Saturday, Tibetan activists gathered outside the Musée Guimet in Paris to protest the museum’s decision to replace exhibition materials identifying certain Tibetan artifacts with the region's Chinese name. Activists argue that this change supports a Chinese political narrative aimed at erasing Tibetan cultural identity from public spaces.

The protest, which some sources estimate drew around 800 demonstrators, followed a report in the French newspaper Le Monde. The report alleged that Musée Guimet and the Musée du quai Branly, two prominent Parisian museums housing collections of Asian art, altered their exhibition materials to label Tibetan artifacts as originating from the “Xizang Autonomous Region,” the Chinese term for Tibet. Additionally, the Musée Guimet renamed its Tibetan art galleries to reflect the “Himalayan world.”

Several Tibetan cultural advocacy groups in France wrote letters to both museums, requesting formal meetings to discuss the reasons behind and implications of the terminology changes. Activists claim that while the Musée du quai Branly agreed to meet, the Musée Guimet did not respond.

Earlier this month, Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the president of the Central Tibetan Administration, criticized the name changes in a letter to high-profile French officials, including the minister of culture and the directors of both museums. He alleged that the terminology shifts “pander to the wishes of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) government” and fails to acknowledge Tibet’s independence movement.

Tsering argued that the changes are not about neutrality or factual correction but are part of a strategy initiated by China’s United Front Work Department in 2023 to distort views of Tibet’s history as an independent entity. “It is particularly disheartening that these cultural institutions in France—a nation that cherishes liberty, equality, and fraternity—are complicit with the PRC government in its efforts to erase the identity of Tibet,” he wrote.

Activists accuse the museums of succumbing to Chinese political pressure to undermine Tibetan culture by altering and generalizing cataloging terms that obscure Tibetan roots. They are calling for the term “Tibet” to be reinstated in exhibition spaces at both museums.

Sayart / Amia Nguyen, amyngwyen13@gmail.com