Dharamshala — The Students for a Free Tibet France (association) has sent a formal notice, through its lawyers, to the Guimet museum and to Rachida Dati, the French Minister of Culture. After they failed to respond to the requests and protests of Tibetans in France concerning the removal of the term "Tibet" from its museum in favour of designations such as "Himalayan World".
Tibetan community and organisations including Students fro a Free Tibet-France and Tibetan Youth Congress-France sent letters to ask the Musée Guimet to write Tibet instead of "Himalayan World" and protested 23 times in 2024 and 2025 in front of the the Guimet Museum, but the museum did not address the issue. One of their letter writes, "Musée Guimet’s erasure of Tibet from its exhibitions has been replaced by the term “Himalayan World.” By not using the correct description of artifacts from Tibet, the museum is merging the distinct cultures represented in the exhibition into one and thus failing to represent the distinct histories of the countries included – Tibet, Bhutan, and Nepal."
"Using Tibet to describe the wares in the exhibition is also important as it encapsulates the unique Tibetan culture and identity. By removing it, the Musee Guimet is accepting and supporting China’s seven decades of occupation and repression and ignores the legitimate struggles of the Tibetan people," it added.
On March 27, 2025, the Students for a Free Tibet France association announced that its lawyers had sent a formal notice the Guimet Museum and to Rachida Dati, the French Minister of Culture, concerning the museum's removal word ‘Tibet’ and replaced with "Himalayan World" in 2024.
The legal notice states, "the association Students for a Free Tibet France, announces that it has sent a formal demand, via its lawyers, to the Guimet Museum and to Rachida Dati, Minister of Culture, following the deletion of the term "Tibet" in favor of denominations such as "Himalayan World" and "Tibetan Art". With this initiative, we are calling for the return of the name "Tibet" to all labels, publications, exhibitions and documents relating to the Guimet Museum's Tibetan objects. The deletion of the name Tibet in February, 2024 seriously undermines Tibetan history and identity."
The notice of SFT-France writes, "This change, without any valid historical or cultural justification, constitutes a violation of the principles of impartiality and neutrality which should govern the management of a public cultural establishment. In this respect, the Students for a Free Tibet France association stresses the need to respect the integrity of peoples and cultures by allowing a faithful and historical representation of Asian arts."
"This change is not only historically and scientifically inaccurate, but also supports the Chinese colonial narrative about Tibet. As a museum with the largest collection of Asian arts outside Asia, such a change in nomenclature appears to be an attempt to erase Tibetan culture and identity, which will have a destructive impact on future generations," it added.
"The Guimet Museum must honor its commitment to present Asian arts in all their richness and diversity, without censorship or historical distortion," said Tenzin Yangchen, President of the Students for a Free Tibet, France.
According to the the Students for a Free Tibet, France, the letter of formal notice also sent to Rachida DATI, Minister of Culture, as well as to Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Yannick Lintz, President of the Guimet Museum. "In this context, the association commits to take all necessary measures to assert the cultural and historical rights of the Tibetan people," SFT, France said.
