The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology was dedicated in 1997 by French President Jacques Chirac, as a testament to the ethnic tribes and their lifestyle and habitats. The museum is located on Nguyen Van Thuyen Street (named after a famous national ethnologist), in Cau Giay District, about 7-8 kms from downtown Hanoi. It preserves rich and diverse showpieces and documentary references of high cultural value.

The building is constructed as a two-storied, semi-circular structure, prefaced by a huge marble-floor lobby bearing a plaque of the dedication, and several wall tapestries reflecting the art of different cultures. It comprises two main quarters: the inside and the outside.

The interiors: the house of cultures

The interiors of this spectacular museum houses objects and documents about the cultural characteristics and the outlook of the Vietnamese communities. The showpieces are exhibited according to geographical locations and languages, into nine groups which closely link to one another, viz :

• General introduction
• The Viet (Kinh) – Vietnam’s majority group
• The Viet-Muong (Muong, Tho and Chut)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• The Austronesians of the mountainous regions (Chu Ru, Ede, Gia Rai, Raglai)
• The Cham, Khmer and Hoa
• Inter-changes among different groups, expressed through highland markets

In these 9 compartments, about 650 objects are displayed in 100 showcases, with captions about the name, place and producer of the object. In addition, there are 33 panels with more than 50 articles and nearly 300 photographs introducing the groups’ cultural characteristics. Showcases about 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 (praying heaven for luck), etc. which are illustrated by video films, can also be found in the museum.

The museum also displays short-term exhibitions, like the “Cultural Resemblance” (through the folk decorative art of the Tay-Thai and Austronesians), which 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”, which opened at the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1999.

The exteriors: architecture styles of Vietnam’s ethnic groups

Traditional architecture, typical of each location nationwide is imitated at the museum. This includes 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. Prominent captions about the material, tools and techniques with which the original ethnic builders were invited by the museum to build the house are clearly visible for each. 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 form. The explanations are in Vietnamese, English and French. 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.

Besides exhibiting, the Museum is also known for compiling 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. The museum is open on all days except Mondays and Lunar Tet Holiday, from 8 am to 5 pm.