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 | Hanoi The Museum of Ethnology Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 25 |  |
 | |  |  | The Museum of Ethnology: A walk in the museum park and garden | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
In the sun, in the shade of the trees, smelling the scents of flowers, walk in the park, and discover the habitat of some of the many ethnic groups of Vietnam; most displays are houses, and inside is furniture, household and even there are people practising traditional handcrafting. It looks a bit artificial, but remember, it is a museum! The houses in the park are mainly from ethnic minorities of Vietnam, most of them from the mountain areas of the North. There are 75 ethnic groups in Vietnam, belonging to eight main ethno linguistic groups: The majority: the Viet Muongs Thai group, Mon-Khmer group, Hmong Dao group, Kadai group, Austronesian group (relatives of Papu or Australian aborigines), Chinese Han group and Tibeto-Burmese group. Not all 75 groups are represented, but there are examples of diversity. One of the most impressive displays is the Bahnar communal house (previous tip), but many other deserve a visit; there is an incredible diversity in the minorities , and this diversity is displayed by the different architectural styles. I found the Jörai from Gia Lai grave (main picture), moving, with the naïve representation of people and souls (these are not zombies!) who escort the dead to his last resting place. . . . . . The Ede (Austraunesian) long house (picture 2) is quite impressive, and I imagine communities living in there; many artefacts are displayed in the houses, and the decoration inside (picture 3), is also very exotic (Ede long house); You can also look at handcrafting presentations, like here (picture 4), in the Kinh (Viet Muong) house. I show also a Hmong (Hmong Daohttp://www.hmongstudies.org/LearnaboutHmongwebsite.html) house (picture 5), a very tiny house, from an ethnic minority living in the northern mountains, suffering repression in Vietnam and Laos. Entrance: 20.000 Dong 8:30 am to 17:30 pm, closed Mondays Address: Nguyen Van Huyen street,Phone: (84-4) 7562193Directions: Ciau Gay district, west of centre, 15-20 mn drive, all taxi know.Website: http://www.vme.org.vn/index.asp
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| | | | The Museum of Ethnology: Beautiful Asian museum! | Tip Rating: | | | | |
It is probably one of the best ethnological museums I had the luck to visit; people of Vietnam, their traditions, their beliefs, their differences, how they lived (and still live), the diversity of cultures, it is all here displayed, explained, in a modern building set in a beautiful park. There are an outdoor museum, showing mainly traditional houses, furniture, household in the houses, some ritual artefacts, and an indoor museum where most of Vietnamese ethnological groups are represented, by examples of tools, clothes, ritual artefacts, household, jewellery,. . . . The way of displaying is modern and lively, with many video displays, photographs, dioramas. Amazing is the diversity of people on such a territory like Vietnam, and the ethnic minorities are here well represented; I guess a visit here is a real introduction to Vietnam if planning a longer stay in the country. The museum, designed by Vietnamese and French architects, has officially opened in 1997; there are about 15000 artefacts, 40000 photographs, thousands of slides, films, video and audio tapes, a very rich museum where the contribution of the former colonialist (not the neo colonialist whose contribution was napalm and defoliants) was essential. When I visited, there was a temporary exhibition about the research of Georges Condominas, a pioneer of Vietnamese ethnology, example of cooperation of Vietnam and the former colonialist. Here are a few pictures as an introduction to this museum. Entrance: 20.000 Dong 8:30 am to 17:30 pm, closed Mondays Address: Nguyen Van Huyen street,Phone: (84-4) 7562193Directions: Ciau Gay district, west of centre, 15-20 mn drive, all taxi know.Website: http://www.vme.org.vn/index.asp
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| | | | The Museum of Ethnology: Visit inside the museum building | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Be prepared to spend at least one afternoon to have only a very small introduction to Vietnamese cultural diversity! Most ethnic groups or areas are represented in the museum! This museum is a real work of cultural conservancy and the items displayed were saved during colonial days and the work was wonderfully pursued by the free Democratic Republic of Vietnam (no sarcasm, this time!) . The building and the rooms are very well lightened, items very well displayed; many explanatory boards give the visitor plenty of a bit scholar explanations, but retain what you like. Videos, dioramas. . . a modern museum. The pictures show how things are displayed, like the fish traps on the main picture, the ritual decotation, the weapons, the Cham cart. . . On the last picture is ethnologist Georges Condominas on field work (Picture from the museum website). Entrance: 20.000 Dong 8:30 am to 17:30 pm, closed Mondays Address: Nguyen Van Huyen street,Phone: (84-4) 7562193Directions: Ciau Gay district, west of centre, 15-20 mn drive, all taxi know.Website: http://www.vme.org.vn/index.asp
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