Located in the heart of Hanoi, the current capital of Vietnam, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology retains the precious information about multicultural characteristics of 54 ethnic minorities in all Vietnamese regions. In statistics, there are 15,000 objects, 42,000 films, 2190 positive films, 273 records, 373 videos, and 25 CD-Rom, which showcase the beauty of Vietnamese culture through various customs and practices of ethnic people. They are divided into many groups including traditional clothes, religions, weapons, wedding customs, funeral customs and many other social-spiritual activities of Vietnamese communities. It is similar to a Vietnamese miniature society where the daily life of local people is presented in the most authentic way.
The museum lies in an area of more than 4 hectares, which took about 10 years for designing and building (from 1987 to 1997). To finish such a wonderful architecture, the museum is a cooperation of 2 designers: Linh Duc Ha – a Vietnamese architect and Véronique Dollfus – a French architect.
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is divided into 3 different areas; each of them is responsible for a separated function. It includes Bronze drum gallery, Outdoor exhibition, and Southeast Asia gallery.
Bronze drum gallery
Bronze drum gallery was designed with an area of 2,500 m2, including 2 floors. The building follows the model of Dong Son bronze drum – a famous kind of Vietnamese drum in the previous time. All items of this area depict the lively daily life of 54 Vietnamese ethnic minorities composing their customs, practices, traditional work, and commodity economy. Along with the reflection of traditional culture, it also shows changes of Vietnamese ethnic people on the path of global integration in recent time.
Southeast Asia gallery
It is a kite-shaped building with an area of about 7,000 m2. Visiting this place, visitors can learn about the unique features of Southeast Asia countries’ cultures, which offer brand-new experiences for our soul. There are five groups of themes that we can enjoy: fabric items, daily life, social life, the art of performance, and belief-religion.
Outdoor exhibition
Perhaps outdoor exhibition is one of the most outstanding spaces in Vietnam Ethnology Museum. In this site, there are many traditional houses of Vietnamese ethnic minorities, which are erected by Vietnamese architects and local people of each ethnic group. Each house reflects the typical features of daily life, conceptions about people and society, and their unique architecture.
Traditional House of Kinh People
Kinh people account for the majority of the Vietnamese population. The house was designed with seven different compartments including bedroom, worship room, studying room, horizontal house, kitchen, well for daily life, and a rainwater tank.
House of Ede People
The house is measure with more than 42m in length. In traditional society of Êđê people, there are many generations, which live in a house together, It is said that the longest house in Edecommunity reached 200 m in the past time.
Funeral house of Giarai People
The main material of the house is wood with sophisticated decorations and statues. The house is for the death in the community. Insides, they put daily objects including bowls, cups, farming tools, and other items of the death. It expresses the wish of everyone about a sufficient life for the death.
Rong house of Bana people
The house reflects a high level of community power in an ethnic community. It is said that Rong house is the most beautiful in a village. The house plays particularly important parts in communal activities such as implementing religious customs and practices, common meetings of villagers, welcoming guests, and solving lawsuits.
Besides, there is also many other ethnic people’s house that you can discover below:
You've just had a quick tour with us around Vietnam ethnology museum. This must be a great experience if you want to learn more about Vietnamese culture, history, and people.