Tibetan residents of Queens condemn Elmhurst Library exhibit

Tibetan residents of Queens have criticized an Elmhurst Library exhibit about their native land that was created by the Chinese consulate. Photo via Change.org petiton.

By David Brand

Tibetan residents of Queens have called on the Queens Public Library’s Elmhurst branch to remove what they call a “politically motivated and oppressive” exhibit about their native land.

The exhibit features photos of Tibet and Tibetans as part of a series called “China Today,” which was created by an affiliate of the Chinese consultant. 

The group Students for a Free Tibet said the exhibit distorts reality by masking Chinese oppression and violence in the territory, where residents have long advocated for self-determination. More than 10,000 Tibetans live in Queens, according to the Tibet House.

“Even for many local Tibetan-American and refugee members of our own community here in Queens, this exhibition is a brutal reminder of the suffering they and their families have directly faced for generations, and the ongoing human rights atrocities and environmental crises in Tibet,” Students for a Free Tibet wrote in an online petition addressed to QPL President Dennis Walcott.

Ngawang Tharchin, the president of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress, told Gothamist that the exhibit is “not the real story of Tibet.”

Queens Public Library spokesperson Ewa Kern Jedrychowska said the exhibit focused on “everyday life in Tibet” and “contains a series of photographs of cultural events, temples, stadiums, transit projects, and children writing in Tibetan and Chinese.”

Kern Jedrychowska said QPL would meet with Students for a Free Tibet and other community members Friday to discuss the exhibit.  

“Our chief librarian and head of our programs division are going to meet in Woodside this afternoon with the executive director of Students for a Free Tibet and other members of the Tibetan community at the Phuntsok Dheshe Tibetan Community Center to discuss their concerns and how best to address them,” she said. 

The Chinese consulate in New York did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment Friday. In a statement to Gothamist, the consulate said the affairs of “Xizang” — the Chinese term for the territory — “are purely China's internal affairs that allow no foreign interference.”

“During the past 60 years or so, Xizang has seen historical progress in economic, social, cultural, ecological and other areas,” the consulate continued. “Today, it enjoys sound economic growth, social stability, ethnic solidarity, religious harmony, cultural vitality, well-preserved ecological environment and improving living-standards.