BẢO TÀNG DÂN TỘC HỌC VIỆT NAM MUSÉE D’ETHNOGRAPHIE DU VIETNAM - VIETNAM MUSEUM OF ETHNOLOGY
1ST QUARTER
Leaders of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences to Work at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology On February 2nd, 2017 (lunar January 6th, the year of the Chicken), the leader of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) including Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Quang Thuấn, VASS President, Prof. Dr. Phạm Văn Đức and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bùi Nhật Quang, two VASS Deputy Presidents, and representatives of functional departments had a brief meeting at the VME. At the meeting, the VASS leaders gave New Year’s wishes to all staff of the Museum on the occasion of the new year. In his speech, Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Quang Thuấn highly appreciated the efforts made and the achievements gained by the VME’s staff in 2016. He wished every staff good health, success and happiness. On the occasion of the New Year, he hoped the Museum’s successes would be furthered to contribute to the general development of the VASS.
The President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences delivering speech at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology to Set Task Orientation in 2017 1. Complete the Ministry-level project titled Preservation and Promotion of Water Puppetry at Communities through the Study at the Folk Water Puppetry Troupes in the Northern Delta; Finish the project Impacts of Televisions on the Changes of Thái’s Families in Việt Nam; 2. Do research, collect objects, and build content for the exhibition Việt Nam’s Sea and Island Culture to be opened in 2018; 3. Implement research and object collection for the organization of the exhibition Elephants in the Central Highlands; 4. Publish the book The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology: 20 Years Together with the Public;
Study Tour on Museums and Historical Relics in Some European Countries to be Carried out Within the framework of the project Investment on Exhibition and Conservation Equipments at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the VME sent four officials to England, France, Italia and Germany to study and exchange experience on exhibition and conservation from October 12th through October 25th, 2016. Aiming to learn about experience in organizing exhibits, using light in exhibitions, application of conservation methods on precious objects, and multimedia application in museum programs, the delegation visited exhibitions, conservation storage, experiment laboratories, object processing rooms at such museums as the
5. Write museum guide for permanent exhibitions including Southeast Asian Cultures, Indonesian Glass Paintings, A Glimpse into Asia, and Around the World; Create leaflets for these exhibitions; 6. Organize an international conference on Expanding Boundaries: Ethnicity, Materiality, and Spirituality; 7. Continue the project Investment on Exhibition and Conservation Equipments at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; 8. Carry out activities to preserve and promote cultural heritage through annual programs in New Year’s Holiday, Mid-Autumn Festival; Implement visitor evaluation; 9. Design educational activities related to temporary exhibitions; 10. Publish four issues of the Museum & Anthropology Review on time and assure the Review’s scientific quality; Publish the Newsletter quarterly; 11. Produce and install a set of photos along the Museum’s fence; 12. Make films about the art of Indonesian glass paintings; 13. Complete English and French versions of the Museum’s website; 14. Repair sanitary rooms and resolve walls’ water absorbent of the Bronze Drum building; Mend the roof over the boat exhibition; Restore the pottery experiment house; and Make artificial streams at the outdoor exhibition.
British Museum, the Museum of London, the Quai Branly Museum, the Louvre Museum, the Vatican Museums, the Städel Museum, and the Senckenberg NaturMuseum Frankfurt. The delegation has gained new knowledge in the management of museum activities as well as object conservation of some modern museums that have been newly built. The trip furthered the collaborative relationship between the VME and the Quai Branly Museum and initially established a relation between the VME and the British Museum.
The Program Enjoying the Year of the Chicken 2017 - Sơn La Cultural Features to be Held
Folk dance (Xòe chá) (Thái ethnic people)
This program was organized in two days, February 4th and 5th, 2017 at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology based on the cooperation between the VME and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Sơn La Province. More than 80 artisans and local people coming from such provinces as Sơn La, Bắc Ninh, Hải Dương, and Hà Nội together with 200 volunteers who are students from universities in Hà Nội contributed to diverse activities of the program. The program introduced special cultural features of some ethnic peoples in Sơn La. Visitors could watch chá (folk dance), love singing and bamboo pole dance of Thái people; vêlr guông dance, tơm singing and tăng bu singing of Khơ mú people; playing Hmông games such as top spinning, stick wrestling, dragon’s brooding; and enjoy the Thái’s foodway. Besides, such performances as four supernatural animal dance, making clay crackers, calligraphy, playing traditional swings, and water puppetry of Việt people plus many other folk games of the ethnic groups in Sơn La made the program livelier. Some of these activities had been carried out since January 30th, 2016. Especially, at 6pm, Saturday, February 4th, 2017, the explosion of fireworks made by artisans from Hải Dương Province to celebrate the New Year has made the Museum’s ambience more sparkling. Previously, on January 20th, 2016, the program Exploring Customs in the Việt’s New Year was organized at the Museum with particular activities including erecting nêu (lunar New Year pole), wrapping chưng cake, printing Đông Hồ folk paintings, calligraphy, and traditional games and attracted a great number of visitors.
CollAsia Course on Conserving Textiles and Costumes in Southeast Asian Collections to be Organized in Guatemala From October 24th to November 12th, 2016, at the Casa K’ojom Museum in La Antigua City, Guatemala, the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) organized a course on Conserving Textiles and Costumes in Southeast Asian Collections. One staff from the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology participated in this course. Guatemala is the center of the Maya Civilization where the traditional weaving has been handed down to next generations and its values have been preserved and promoted in people’s lives. In the context of tropical climate, weaving techniques and textile products in Guatemala share many similarities with the weaving of peoples in Asia in general and in Southeast Asia in particular. This was the reason why the ICCROM gathered fourteen conservation staff from the Asia and Americas to learn and discuss about skills to conserve textiles and costumes in Southeast Asian collections, and at the same time creating a link among conservators for expertise exchange.
A textile performance in Guatemala
Through the course, the participants have gained a lot of knowledge about materials, textile weaving techniques and conservative skills. They also had an opportunity to share experience in the conservation of textiles in some Asian and American countries as well as to learn about weaving techniques of the Maya.
Interviewing Mr. Santosa, a glass painting artisan in Yogyakarta
Audiovisual Materials of Indonesian Glass Paintings to be Collected in Indonesia From December 12th to December 16th, 2016, a delegation of the VME led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phạm Văn Dương, the Museum Deputy Director, traveled to Indonesia to collect audiovisual materials about the art of Indonesian glass paintings. The delegation mainly worked at two sites: Nagasepaha Village (Buleleng District that is 250km far from the center of Bali Island Province) and Yogyakarta – where artisans of glass paintings live and work. The styles of glass paintings made in these two sites are different. The art of glass painting, which originated in Europe, was introduced to Indonesia in the early 20th century and flourished there during the 1930s. The Indonesian glass paintings convey stories about Islam, history of kingdoms in Indonesia, battles between the good and the evils in the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, or folk tales. Until now, artisans in many localities of Indonesia have maintained this art form. They not only teach their own children and grandchildren but also engage in a number of educational programs in schools to instruct students how to draw paintings on glass as well as to enhance the latter’s understandings of the values of this special art form. The documents collected from this trip are currently processed and edited into films, which are expected to be screened in the gallery Indonesian Glass Paintings at the end of this year.
The Project Impacts of Televisions on the Changes of Thái’s Families in Việt Nam in Review In 2016, this project was carried out in Nghệ An Province. The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology organized four trips to six villages of Thái people in Nặm Nhoóng Commune and Nặm Giải Commune, Quế Phong Districts. The first three trips focused on interviewing local people to assess the impacts of televisions on family lives of Thái people. Interviewees were selected randomly including adults, children, high school teachers and students. Each trip, about forty informants were interviewed. The forth trip concentrated on ethnological research to collect information about migration situation of Thái people.
The Project Dug-out Canoes in the Lives of Some Ethnic Peoples in the Central Highlands to be Accomplished On December 23rd, 2016, the VME’s scientific council assessed the results of this institutional level project. The project is co-directed by Dr. Võ Thị Mai Phương and Dr. Vũ Hồng Thuật and carried out in two years 2015-2016. The VME is the agency in charge of this project. In general, the project has reached the goals set by the project team. Such contents as the fact of using dug-out canoes in the lives of some ethnic peoples in the Central Highlands in the past and at present; sources of materials, processing techniques, related customs and rituals, ways to make and use this type of canoes; and the role of dug-out canoes in local people’s lives were investigated and analyzed. The project also studied features of dug-out canoes of some ethnic peoples living in the Northern mountainous areas to find out similarities and differences between dugout canoes in the North of the country and those in the Central Highlands. Based on documentation, the project initially provided comparison between dug-out canoes in the Central Highlands of Việt Nam and those in some countries in Southeast Asia. Besides, it pointed out values of dug-out canoes in the Central Highlands, from which proposing solutions to preserve and promote these values in the lives of the local people, through exhibitions and performances at the VME.
The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology to Work with Japanese Experts in Intangible Cultural Heritage
On December 20th, 2016, the VME’s Director and the museum researchers had a meeting with two Japanese experts, Dr. Yoko Nojima from the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) and Dr. Kubota Hiromichi from the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties. The experts introduced new researches of the two institutes about ways to preserve intangible cultural heritage and risk management due to natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the experts, this was a new and urgent research within the context of climate change nowadays. The VME’s researchers shared with the experts their research experience according to real situations in Việt Nam through various examples of floods, droughts, sea level rise and pointed out such intangible cultural heritage as festivals, folk songs, traditional farming practices, folk knowledge, community cohesion etc. that have been at risk of falling into oblivion. The discussion confirmed the necessity of this research direction in Việt Nam today.
The VME’s researchers working with the Japanese experts
The Meeting Strengthening Collaboration in Communication and Advertisment at Museums and Historical Relics to be Held On December 28th, 2016, the meeting on Strengthening Collaboration in Communication and Advertisment at Museums and Historical Relics that aimed to attract visitors was organized at the Vietnam National Museum of History, gathering representatives from sixteen museums and historical relics in Hà Nội. At the meeting, the experts shared and discussed about collaborative ways to enhance the effect of communication work of museums and historical relics in Hà Nội in the coming years. Representatives from the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology participated in the meeting and contributed to the discussion on communication work related to image promotion, publications that introduce and advertise about museum’s activities, and communication work on museum website. A memorandum on cooperation in communication and advertisment was preliminarily drafted at the meeting and expected to be signed and realized in the near future.
The Museum & Anthropology Review in 2017 The Museum & Anthropology Review entered the fifth year of publication in 2017. Articles and information that will be published in the Review cover different fields such as concepts, knowledge and policies of cultural heritage, conservation and promotion of cultural heritage; theoretical and practical studies about cultural heritage, museology and anthropology that have not been widespread in Việt Nam; domestic and international museum activities and museum professional skills; and experience, operation and new practices of museums in the country and in the world. The publications aim to provide updated knowledge about concepts, approaches and new theories from anthropologists and museologists inside and outside of Việt Nam.
Mr. Nguyễn Vũ Hoàng presenting the findings of his doctoral disertation at the VME
A Doctoral Disertation in Anthropology to be Defended in Canada In October 2016, Mr. Nguyễn Vũ Hoàng, a researcher of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, successfully defended his doctoral dissertation in anthropology titled Disasters, Settlements and the Homeland: Vietnamese American Experiences of White Supremacy in New Orleans at the University of Toronto, Canada. The subject of the research is the Vietnamese American community who follows Catholic in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are not only victims of racial discriminal acts but also complicit in this supremacy. From the analysis of their daily life experiences and aftermath of disasters in the region, the dissertation pointed out the role of politics and power among races not only in New Orleans but also all over the United State. Besides, the dissertation also mentioned the relationship between the Vietnamese American and their home villages in Việt Nam. The effectiveness of the Vietnamese government’s policy of luring oversea financial contribution to the country, the positive points and limitations of other policies and laws of the Vietnamese government, and dynamics of the diasporic community in relation with their homeland were also analyzed in the dissertation.
Data of Museum Visitors in 2016
Visitors at the VME
Until December 10th, 2016, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology received 429,334 visitors, which is 51,083 more than the number of visitors the same period in 2015 (equivalent to 13%). There were 286,582 Vietnamese and 142,752 foreigners who made up 66,75% and 33,25% of the total number of visitors respectively. Domestic visitors mainly came to the Museum in February, March, April, and September. The program Enjoying the Year of the Monkey 2016 that was organized from February 11th to February 14th attracted over 28,000 visitors; nearly 19,000 people of whom participated in the program in two days February 13th and 14th. The program held on the occasion of the Capital Liberation Day (April 30th) and the International Labour’s Day (May 1st) and the Mid-Autumn Festival in September also welcomed approximately 17,000 visitors each program.
Guided tours : In Vietnamese, French and English; group, special and topic-based tours by appointment (84.4- 37562193) Activities for children : Discovery room (Dong Ho wood-block printing, weaving, dyeing and creating patterns on textiles, making toys, etc.) Annual events : Tet holidays, International Children’s Day and Midautumn Festival Living traditions : Craft performances by artisans of different ethnic groups, regular performances of water puppetry and traditional arts Souvenir shop : Introducing handicraft products (in collaboration with the Craft Link) Book store : Books, exhibit catalogues and postcards of Vietnamese culture and history, especially the cultures of different ethnic groups Services : Organizing cultural events at the Museum or at a requested place for tourism companies, institutions, family groups (including traditional art perfomances such as ca tru traditional singing, water puppetry, xoan traditional singing, gongs and drums performing; and hand-on demonstrations such as making pottery, Mid-autumn lights, masks, traditional cakes, conical hats, traditional fans and weaving etc. Three permanent exhibitions : • Ethnic groups in Vietnam – introduction about the 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups
• Southeast Asia – introduction about the cultures of Southeast Asian ethnic groups • Architectural garden – the outdoor exhibition introducing the traditional architecture of ten ethnic groups in Vietnam Every Saturday and Sunday : Traditional water puppet performances for free
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VIETNAM MUSEUM OF ETHNOLOGY Nguyen Van Huyen Road, Cau Giay, Hanoi Tel : (84. 4) 3756 2193 | Fax : (84. 4) 3836 0351 information.vme@gmail.com | www.vme.org.vn — Opening hours: 8:30 – 17:30, closed on Mondays and Tet holidays — How to come: by bus numbers 7, 12, 13, 14, 38, 39 Access for the disabled
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Folk Water Puppet Performance
(in cooperation with PART HÀ NỘI Limited Liability Company) Everyday, at 10:00, 11:15, 14:00, 15:15, 16:15, and 17:30
Exhibition Indonesian Glass Paintings A Glimpse into Asia Around the World Philippines Mosque Drum • New Year’s Holiday Program Saturday, February 4th and Sunday, February 5th, 2017 8:30 - 17:30
• Program on the Occasion of the Capital Liberation Day (April 30th) and the International Labour’s Day (May 1st) Saturday, April 29th and Sunday, April 30th, 2017 8:30 - 17:30
• Program on the Occasion of the International Children’s Day (June 1st) Saturday, May 27th and Sunday, May 28th, 2017 8:30 - 17:30