The Museum of Ethnology, Vietnam - a great place to learn about the arts and crafts of the Vietnamese people

On our last full day in Hanoi, I took Bob to see the Museum of Ethnology, of which I have some very fond memories.  The Museum is a fair way from where we are staying so we had to catch a taxi which took us through suburbs showing strong signs of Vietnam's growing prosperity and the investment of  other countries, especially Japan.  The Museum was built in 1995 as a research centre and a public museum, partly with government money and partly through sponsors (often foreign embassies, like Finland). The museum is very informative, especially for those visitors who are interested in the 54 ethnic groups which make up the nation and in their cultures.  I found it especially interesting because it depicts, and often explains, the arts and crafts of each ethnic group.  For instance, it covers woodblock printing, lacquer work,engraving, bronze work, wood carving, weaving and ceramics, amongst other areas.  My only reservation about this museum is that the government seems to have lost interest in it and it is looking a bit tired.  Plus, the staff are not as enthusiastic or involved as they were on my last visit.  I think it maybe needs a change of management, or some new money injected into it, because it is fantastic, but in need of some rejuvenation.

My specific enthusiasms are the weaving and patchwork on display.  The colours, arrangements, combinations and the techniques are amazing.  The work of the Hmong is famous

but I also admired this patchwork is of the type sold in the Dong Van market in Ha Giang Province

.

And of course, I was also inspired by the installations.  This is a detail of a Thai ritual tree

and this is a detail of a ritual pole of about 13 metres high made by the Co people is used during the thanksgiving festival to connect the human to the spiritual world.

The basketware and use of natural plant fibres for weaving useful and decorative items was also impressive

The other interesting area was that of wood carving:

And I could take home some of the ceramics!

The museum also has special displays. 

The one this time was a collection of extraordinary photographs of life in the Central Highlands in the 1950s taken by Jean-Marie Duchange.  Another dispay of his photographs is in the Quai Branly Museum in Paris. 

As well as the internal museum displays, there is a garden

which contains examples of boats, housing, communal halls, vegetable gardens, medicinal gardens,water puppet pavilions and other elements of  village life. This is an eye for scaring off evil spirits on the prow of a boat.

 Again, function and beauty merge in the buildings which have been built by these village people. 

This is a Bahnar communal house,

this is a Hani House

 and this is an Ede house.

This is a Cotu tomb

The insides of the buildings have great patterns

and so do these water irrigation systems:

 

And now, our wonderful trip to Vietnam is over.  We have survived the horrible trip back home, with all it involves: queues, airline "food", dessicated and de-oxygenated air, customs officials who treat you as if you are trying to blow up the world, reduced personal space, uncomfortable chairs, crying babies.  But, on the good side, now, I can also use all the worderful inspiration of my trip and start creating again.