City museum opens Oc Eo, Champa culture exhibits
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Godlike: Statutes of gods made by the Cham are displayed at the permanent exhibit of Cham Culture at the Museum of Vietnamese History in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Mai |
HCM CITY — The Museum of Vietnamese History in HCM City yesterday opened two permanent exhibits of the Oc Eo and Champa cultures.
On display are 439 ancient artefacts and sculptures made of gold, silver, copper, gems, pottery, wood, and sandstone.
The Oc Eo exhibition features remnants of tools, vases, and statues of Gods made of earth during the Oc Eo culture (between the first and sixth centuries) which were found in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, mostly in An Giang Province.
They reveal close the delta people’s trading relations with India.
The Champa exhibit has artefacts made of copper in the seventh and ninth centuries and provides an overview of Cham art until the 15th century.
The collection, along with those at the Da Nang Cham Sculpture Museum and the Museum of Vietnamese History in Ha Noi are some of the biggest collections of Champa artefacts in the world.
The two exhibits are part of a five-year Promoting Viet Nam’s Museum Heritages project undertaken by Viet Nam and France.
Besides promoting the country’s historical and cultural heritages, the project will also train Vietnamese officials in museum design, organisation, and management.
France is helping modernise five museums – the Museum of Ethnology in Ha Noi, Dac Lac Museum, Da Nang Cham Sculpture Museum, and the War Remnants Museum and Museum of Vietnamese History in HCM City. — VNS