The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
is a convergence of cultures and a
scientific ethnological center. It has
actively contributed to the conservation
and development of the national culture,
as well as the cultural traditions and
identities of the Vietnamese
nationalities.
The museum is located on Nguyen Van
Huyen street (named after a famous
national ethnologist), in Cau Giay
District, about 7-8 km from downtown
Hanoi. It covers an area of nearly 3.3
hectares. Ha Duc Linh, an architect of
the Tay ethnic group, designed the
museum in the form of the ancient drum
of the Dong Son Culture, and interior
decorations were designed by French
architect, Veronique Dollfus.
Being part of the National Centre for
Social Sciences and Humanities, the
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is involved
in various undertakings. It carries out
scientific research on Vietnamese
nationalities, collects, classifies,
assesses, preserves, restores, exhibits,
introduces and exploits the cultural and
historical values of all the
nationalities. It also provides
ethnological references and trains staff
in the specific fields of the
ethnographic museum. The Museum also
attaches attention to the cultures of
other countries in Southeast Asia,
seeing them as potential targets for
exhibitions at the museum in the near
future.
Since its foundation, the Museum has
preserved rich and diverse showpieces
and documentary references. At present,
more than 15,000 objects, about 40,000
photographs and many audio-visual tapes,
of which many collections are of highly
cultural value, are exhibited and
preserved by the Museum. At present, the
museum comprises two main quarters: the
inside and outside display. Most of the
space of the 2-storey building is
reserved for long-term and regular
display of objects and documents about
the cultural characteristics and the
out-look of the Vietnamese communities.
The showpieces are displayed according
to geographical locations and languages,
into nine groups which closely link to
one another. They are: 1. General
introduction; 2. The Viet (Kinh) -
Vietnam's majority group. 3. The
Viet-Muong (Muong, Tho and Chut); 4. The
Thai-Kadai, including 8 groups of the
Tay-Thai (Tay, Thai, Nung, San Chay,
Giay, Bo Y, Lao, and Lu) and 4 groups of
the Kadai (La Chi, Co Lao, Pu Peo, La
Ha). 5. The H'mong-Dao (H'mong, Dao, Pa
Then), the Tibeto-Burmese (Lo Lo, Ha
Nhi, La Hu, Phu La, Si La and Cong), and
the Sino-Tibetan (San Diu and Ngai); 6.
The Mon-Khmers of the North (Khmu,
Khang, Mang, Odu and Sinh Mun) and of
the Truong Son Range and the Central
Highlands (Ba-na, Brau, Bru-Van Kieu,
Choro, Co, Co Ho, Co Tu, Gie-trieng,
Hre, Ma, Mnong, Ro Mam, Ta Oi, Se Dang
and Stieng). 7. The Austronesians of the
mountainous regions (Chu Ru, Ede, Gia
Rai, Raglai); 8. The Cham, Khmer and
Hoa. 9. Inter-changes among different
groups, expressed through highland
markets. In these 9 compartments, about
650 objects are displayed in 100
showcases, large and small, with
captions about the name, the place and
producer of the object.
There are 33 panels with more than 50
articles and nearly 300 photographs
introducing the groups' cultural
characteristics. In addition, there are
showcases about some other unique
cultural identity or custom, such as non
(palm-leaf conical hat) making in Chuong
Village, funeral rituals of the Muong,
buffalo-stabbing ceremony of the Ba-na,
then (praying heaven for luck), etc.
which are illustrated by video films.
Inside the museum, there are short-term
exhibitions. For instance, the "Cultural
Resemblance" (through the folk
decorative art of the Tay-Thai and
Austronesians), opened on the occasion
of the 6th ASEAN Summit held in Hanoi in
December 1998; the "Children's
Mid-Autumn Festival - In the Past and At
Present", opened at the Mid-Autumn
Festival of 1999.
The outside quarter of the display will
be completed one section at a time.
Traditional architectures typical of
each location nationwide are imitated at
the museum. They include the burial
ground of the Gia-rai, the houses built
with po-mu timber of the H'mong, the
stilt-house of the Tay, the mixed
stilt-and-ground house of the Dao, the
traditionally-shaped house of the Viet,
the long stilt-house of the matriarchal
E-de, the no-wall house of the Ha Nhi,
the long house of the Ba-na, etc. At
each example, there are captions about
the material, tools and techniques with
which the original ethnic builders were
invited by the museum to build the
house. The ethnic builders also
participated in introducing information
about their products and the cultural
traditions of their group. Each house
looks like a mini-museum.
Through the interior decoration and
illustrated information, the visitors
can understand the life of each ethnic
group. In both inside and outside
quarters, the showpieces are displayed
and preserved in their original
appearance. The explanations are in
Vietnamese, English and French, that is
very convenient for visitors. Among
diverse presentations to the public,
folk art performances and on-the-spot
making of the traditional handicraft
articles attract a great number of
visitors. In September, the performance
"Singing Cheo operetta" organized by the
Viet people in Tan Hoi Village, Dan
Phuong District, Ha Tay Province, will
open for a series of shows at the
Museum. Besides exhibiting, the Museum
compiled books, such as a catalogue
about the Museum published in 1997,
Pictures of Vietnamese Nationalities
(1997), The Great Family of Vietnamese
Nationalities (1998), Ancient Designs of
Dac Lac (1999), Research Projects by the
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Volume 1
(1999), to name but a few. |
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