Museum On Main To Spotlight Uyghur Culture

From the Museum on Main:

February 26 2020

February 20, 2020- Pleasanton, CA – Join the Museum on Main this spring as we partner with the local Uyghur community to celebrate Uyghur culture, Nowruz, and help raise awareness about the current genocide of the Uyghur community and culture in China. The Museum on Main and the Uyghur community will host a Celebrate Community: Uyghur Nowruz MoM’s Reading Time on March 11th and a Celebrate Community: Uygur Nowruz Family Day on March 21st. We will also host a Discussion with… Uyghur scholar Dr. Erkin Sidick on April 25th. “We feel very fortunate to be a part of a diverse community here in Pleasanton and each year we try to highlight that diversity with our celebrate community partnerships and programs. This year we are honored to be spotlighting the local Uyghur community and helping to raise awareness of the plight of the Uyghur communities in East Turkistan.” notes Sarah Schaefer, the Museum on Main’s Director of Education.

Uyghurs are ethnically and culturally a Turkic people living in the areas of Central Asia commonly known as East Turkistan. The area is situated in the heart of Asia, on the fabled ancient Silk Road. It is the historical homeland of the Turkic-speaking Uyghurs who have inhabited the area for almost 4,000 years. East Turkistan has effectively been occupied by China since 1949. The Uyghur Congress states, “Today the existence of the Uyghur nation is under threat as the Chinese government continues to carry out deliberate policies opposing centuries-old tradition, culture & religion. Human rights violations remain pervasive including persecution on cultural and religious grounds, arbitrary arrests and the silencing of peaceful dissent.” Today, there are an estimated over 20 million Uyghurs living in East Turkistan and abroad.

The Celebrate Community: Uyghur Nowruz MoM’s Toddler Reading Time, March 11th from 10am-11am at the Museum on Main, will focus on Nowruz a New Year’s and ushering in of spring festival celebrating by people around the globe. We will read two stories about Nowruz, hear a Uyghur folktale, and make spring themed placemats to take home. Attendance is free.

The Celebrate Community: Uyghur Nowruz Family Day, March 21st from 10am- 2pm on the Museum on Main’s front lawn, will not only shed more light on the Nowruz holiday, but also Uyghur culture as a whole. There will be Uyghur music, dance, hair braiding, crafts, demos, crafts, calligraphy, cross stitch, traditional games, and food from a Uyghur restaurant. There will even be performances by Canada’s Got Talent runner up Aygul Memet, who will do her amazing circus acts and Uyghur dances! Attendance is free.

A Discussion with…Uyghur expert Dr. Erkin Sidick on April 25th from 5:30 pm- 7:30 pm at the Museum on Main. Dr. Sidick, a Nasa scientist and Uyghur expert, will discuss Uyghur culture and language and the current crisis in China. He has traveled around the world and across the United States doing lectures to raise awareness about the plight of the Uyghur community. Dr. Sidick will speak from 5:30-6:30 with a reception immediately following from 6:30pm-7:30pm. Attendance is free but seats are limited so guests must call the museum to reserve their seats.

This press release was produced by the Museum on Main. The views expressed here are the author’s own.