Washington, DC November 5th-   In its first collaborative exhibition with the Uyghur American Association, the Laogai Museum will be hosting "The Uyghur Experience: Sixty Years under Chinese Communist Rule."  The exhibition showcases the complexities and contradictions of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (known to the Uyghurs as East Turkestan), examining how Communist rule has affected the Uyghurs, as well as how the Laogai and other coercive measures are utilized by the central government to maintain control of this region. Following the July violence in Urumchi, the exhibition is a timely reminder for the need to work towards a greater understanding of the Uyghur experience in China in the face of aggressive attempts by the Chinese government to control how the region is depicted in the global media.  
 
Executive Director of the Laogai Research Foundation Harry Wu said the following of the exhibition, "It is the intent of the Laogai Research Foundation that this exhibition will shed light on the complicated relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and the Uyghur people.  We hope our collaboration with the Uyghur American Association can serve as a platform for continued cooperation between the Han and Uyghur communities to further our mission of ending tyranny and injustice in the People's Republic."  
 
President of the World Uyghur Congress Rebiya Kadeer offered the following concerning the collaboration, "I am proud to work with Chinese democrats for the realization of human rights, democracy and freedom in China. It is by working side by side with champions of human rights and democracy in China, such as Harry Wu, that all people in China will one day see the end of the tyranny and the repression of the Chinese Communist Party."
 
The exhibition is set to open on November 12th, 2009, with a reception to be held at the Laogai Museum.  Details are as follows:
 
"The Uyghur Experience: Sixty Years Under Chinese Communist Rule" Opening Reception
featuring remarks by Harry Wu and Rebiya Kadeer
November 12, 2009
From 5-6:30 pm
Laogai Research Foundation
1109 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20005

For further press inquiries, please contact Lindsey Purdy at (202) 408-8300 or e-mail at Lindsey@laogai.org.