Vietnamese Women’s Museum

History

Vietnamese Women’s Museum was established in 1987, and run is by the Vietnam Women’s Union. The construction started on an existing building in 1991, according to architect Tran Xuan Diem plans, and opened to the public in 1995. The exhibition presents objects from a large collection (around 28,000 items) gathered by the museum and the Vietnam Women’s Union since the 1970s. Those artefacts are related to the role of women in family life and history.

From 2006 to 2010, the museum was closed for modernisation, with funds from the Vietnamese Government, the Vietnamese Women’s Union, and the Ford Foundation. The Vietnamese Women’s Museum reopened to the public in 2010, with a contemporary architecture and modern facilities, and a new permanent exhibition organized around three themes: Women in Family, Women In History and Women’s Fashion. At the same time, the museum has moved from a cultural and historical museum to a gender museum, providing information on cultural traditions, and issues of social and contemporary life.

Mission

To enhance public knowledge and understanding of history and cultural heritage of Vietnamese women by collecting, preserving and introducing exhibits through object collection, historical anthropology approach, diverse and multi-directional reflection of women’s issues in historical and contemporary life, and dialogues and discussions with the community for sustainable development of the museum, thus contributing to promoting gender equality.

Museum and Collections

The main building of the museum is divided into 4 areas: permanent exhibition, special exhibition, the Discovery Room, and the museum shop. Temporary exhibitions are also organised in a nearby area of the main building.

Collections

The Vietnamese Women’s Museum has collected around 28,000 objects related to Vietnamese women. They are classified into special collections such as textiles, metals, wood, paper, pottery, leather, horn, soil, and glass. The objects, which come from all over the country, have been collected by the museum and the Vietnam Women’s Union since the 1970s. Each of these items belonged to women whose identities are known. They tell their story or reflect on a historical episode that was personally experienced which gives great emotional resonance to the museum.

Permanent exhibitions

The permanent exhibition, renovated between 2006 and 2010, is located on the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th floors of the museum, and displays around 1000 materials, objects, and photos.

Women in Family

This first theme displays “circle of life” of Vietnamese women as woman, wife and mother, in the different ethnic groups, which make up the Vietnamese nation. The first part of the exhibition focuses on the role and position of women in their family during the wedding rituals in patrilineal and matrilineal societies. Several objects, such as a gift box for engagement, or a bride’s costumes, illustrate these rituals. Next, the exhibit introduces the theme of birth: the rituals related to the desire for children, the practice around pregnancy, the birth, and the care of the new mothers and newborn. Finally the exhibit addresses the role and the tasks of women in the everyday life: cultivation, fishing and foraging, preparing meals, pottery, sewing and weaving, and raising children.

Women in History

The exhibits in this section examine the role and participation of Vietnamese women during resistance wars against enemies, and illustrate the different aspects of women’s daily life during the wars. Personal objects such as a ring, a straw hat or a photograph represent major events and heroines of Vietnamese History. Short films show how women in contemporary life assert their personality with energy, passion, skill and spirit based on traditional values.

Women’s Fashion

This section offers diversified fashion and costume art using traditional techniques of many of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. For example, embroidery of the Hmong and Thais, batik techniques used by the Hmong, and expressions of personal beauty through the use of jewels, betel and areca nuts. Also in this section are modern dresses designed by contemporary Vietnamese fashion designers.

Special exhibitions

Vietnamese Women’s Museum organizes exhibitions with a new approach of social anthropology; reflecting the development and changes of contemporary society through projects targeting many different groups, particularly vulnerable women and disadvantaged children.

Online exhibitions

The museum also organises online exhibitions about past events for people who can’t travel to the museum. The current exhibition, Street Vendor, tells the stories of Hanoi street vendor’s day-to-day lives and work.

Mobile exhibitions

Mobile exhibitions are held frequently in different provinces. The museum’s basic targets are local Women’s Unions, Universities and schools.

Education

Desiring to bring the museum closer to the public, the museum offers diversified educational activities and public programs, and opened the Discovery Room in 2010 for the educational benefit of school children between 7 and 15 years of age. The Discovery Room provides children an opportunity for their creativity, researching, communicating, presenting, reading and writing skills through activities such as making traditional palm-leaf conical hats or wearing traditional costumes of different ethnic groups.

Co-operation

The museum regularly cooperates with several institutions and associations to organise special events or exhibitions:

Awards

In 2012, Vietnamese Women’s Museum was ranked “One of the best attractions in Hanoi in 2012” by TripAdvisor. In 2013, TripAdvisor continued to include Vietnamese Women’s Museum in the top 25 most-interesting museums in Asia. In 2014, the Vietnamese Women’s Museum was ranked in the top 3 of the 94 best attractions in Hanoi by TripAdvisor.