Interesting private museums in Vietnam (part 1)

Founded in 2007 by the artist Vu Duc Hieu, the Muong’s Culture Museum is the first private museum that preserves collects and stores artifacts and items of the Muong ethnic minority. Located in a beautiful natural landscape near Hoa Binh Province, approximately 2-hour driving from Hanoi, the museum gives its visitors an opportunity to understand the lifestyle and traditions of Muong people, one of the largest ethnic minorities in Vietnam. The museum comprises two principal areas: permanent exhibition and temporary exhibition. The area for permanent exhibition is composed of four complexes of stilt houses representing four social classes in Muong community. The area for temporary exhibition includes galleries divided by its content and library.
 

Located at a 10.000-square meter area at Soc Son District, Hanoi, this palace’s owner is Thanh Chuong, one of the most famous artists in Vietnam. Aimed to preserve and honor Vietnamese spiritual and special art values, the palace has 25 cultural works which combine architecture, sculpture, art, religion and food, as well as collections of rare antiques from the dynasties of Đinh, Ly, Tran and Le. Especially, Vietnamese intangible cultural and art heritages, including traditional operetta and Bac Ninh folk song, ceremonial song, strolling blind music, "chầu văn", "hầu đồng" and water puppetry are also performed frequently at Thanh Chuong’s Viet Palace. The palace also hosts exhibitions of Thanh Chuong and other Vietnamese leading artists.
    

Hoang Long Antique Museum with an area of 350sp.m is the first private museum in the central province of Thanh Hoa. The museum owns over 16 thousands articles, relics and valuable collectibles, such as bronze drums, Dong Son ceramics, potteries from the Ly and Tran dynasties, ancient jewelry and even cannons. One of the major attractions is Vietnam’s biggest Dong Son bronze drum which is 1.21m high with the diameter of 1,51m and weighs up to 739 kg.
 

The Dong Dinh Museum opened its doors to the public on 28 January 2011, and has become one of Da Nang’s most-visited tourist attractions. Nestled on the Son Tra Peninsula, the museum is a beautiful and peaceful place to see wonderful works of art and valuable antiques.  The owner of the museum, artist  Doan Huy Giao has spent more than 30 years collecting artifacts across the country and another 10 years on building his privately-owned museum, which is the first of its kind in the central region. The museum boasts hundreds of items dating back up to 2,500 years, which showcase the rich cultural heritages of Sa Huynh, Champa, Oc Eo, Dong Son and Dai Viet.  Apart from these antiques, the owner has also collected items from Vietnamese minority ethnic groups with the aim of preserving and promoting their remarkable cultural values. There is also an exhibition area devoted to contemporary art.  
  (To be continued)
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