In addition to the regular exhibits, Hanoi Museum will also organize thematic exhibitions, seminars, and talk shows about scientific matters. With 110,000 visitors in 2016, Hanoi Museum is gradually becoming an attractive cultural destination.
Various schools regularly arrange visits for students to learn about culture during extracurricular activities at Hanoi Museum.
In the last May, Hanoi Museum successfully organized a photo exhibition named “March, month of cotton trees”. Cotton tree is one of the symbol species of the Red River Delta. In the recent years, however, a large number of cotton trees have been cut down. Faced with this situation, Hanoi Museum in collaboration with the photography club of Hanoi University of Culture held the event to honor the beauty and awaken people’s love for cotton trees in order to protect one of the symbols of village life. A variety of beautiful photos of cotton trees, especially ones taken in My Duc District, Thuong Tin District, and Chuong My District, were sent to the exhibition.
Opening ceremony of “March, month of cotton trees” art photo exhibition at Hanoi Museum
The event was one of the many activities recently undertaken by Hanoi Museum. The museum’s central hall was the hosting place for the “Vietnamese mascots” exhibition, an event jointly organized by Hanoi Museum and the Heritage Management Office (Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports) to introduce a collection of traditional mascots (dragon, phoenix, lion, tiger, horse, elephant, crane, dog, turtle, fish) that had been collected over time as well as handicraft products restored by Hanoian artisans and sculptors.
Visitors were surprised to see the similarities and differences between Vietnamese mascots and foreign mascots, especially in the meanings of the decorative motifs entrusted by the forefathers. Besides exhibitions, Hanoi Museum also organized a variety of interactive activities, such as the “Moon Lantern Parade on Streets” program aimed at introducing the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year program, and the exhibit donation program as well as scientific seminars, conferences, and occasional talk shows. Among others, the small-scaled but meaningful talk shows, such as the talk show with students of Nguyen Trai Secondary School (Ha Dong District) held on the anniversary of the founding of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, gave students an opportunity to experience the joy of learning through various activities that helped them broaden their knowledge about the country’s cultural heritages.
Officially open in 2010, Hanoi Museum is one of the “newest” museums in the capital city. Due to some difficulties, the progress of implementing exhibition projects at the museum has been rather slow. With its staff’s ability to come up with a variety of ideas for events, however, Hanoi Museum has overcome some of its own disadvantages. The museum has actively contacted a number of schools, tourism companies, and political and social organizations to introduce itself and invite guests over for visits. All visitors to the museum are treated as honored guests. Staff members of the museum all strictly comply with its Code of Conduct to better serve its visitors.
Aforementioned kinds of programs are often well prepared and are able to provide an enjoyable experience to visitors. Many schools consider visiting Hanoi Museum a helpful extra-curricular activity. Hanoi Museum has many “customers” that are schools, agencies, and units from other provinces such as Thai Nguyen Province, Vinh Phuc Province, and so on. The museum also seeks to increase coordination with other museums and agencies to diversify its range of activities. Nguyen Minh Anh, a student from grade 6A of To Vinh Dien Secondary School (Dong Da District), excitedly said after a visit: “I used to look at ancient artifacts with strangeness and thought that they were really out-dated items. Thanks to this visit to the museum, I now know that the artifacts all carry in them historical stories, including ones about the capital city. The space of the museum is also very spacious which makes this trip a relaxing extra-curricular activity”.
To speed up the implementation progress and to deliver a more convenient display of items without affecting the efficiency of exploitation and promotion of the values at Hanoi Museum, in June 2016, the Standing Party Committee of Hanoi agreed to add the Project of Exhibition Items of Hanoi Museum to the list of key projects of the city in the period 2016-2020. The exhibition items will be appraised by the Scientific Council based on objects chosen objectively, scientifically, and selectively to highlight the cultural, historical, and natural values of the capital city. It is expected that all exhibition items will be completed prior to the 65th anniversary of Hanoi’s Liberation Day (October 2019). Hanoi Museum is expected to become an attractive tourist destination in the near future.
Giang Nam