Opened to the public in 1995, the Vietnamese Women’s Museum showcases the contributions of women in their society throughout history.
The second floor is a devoted to showing the life of ethnic women. Vietnam has 54 different ethnic groups, and this section defines the role of women from birth, marriage to motherhood in several of the different cultures. Artifacts from wedding clothing to forceps are on display.
It was weird that I knew what forceps were and what they were used for and the others in the tour did not. I thought everyone knew what forceps were. I don’t know what that says about me.
There is also a section devoted to the Mother Goddess, who I knew nothing about before this encounter. Probably because my knowledge was obscured by insignificant things such as knowledge of forceps.
Mother Goddess is the supreme deity who was reincarnated as the 4 mother goddesses (Heaven, Earth, Water, and Mountains and Forests). The 4 mother goddesses look after everything in heaven and earth, so big job. People appreciate the work and worship her. Well deserved.
The third floor highlights the contribution of women during the wars and throughout history. Several artifacts such as gas masks and guns are on display, but it is the impressive collection of propaganda posters from the war that set this collection off.
The top floor is about fashion. Traditional costumes of the 54 ethnic groups are included, and explanations about knowing, based on an outfit, the status of a women (married or not). It also displays makeup, weaving, and jewelry making.
There was a lot of reading in this museum. Very informative and interesting, but we were rushed, of course. I took pictures of everything I needed to read to absorb later, but an overall impression is the museum is very well done. Not for kids or people with short attention spans, but overall, well done.
I want to give a shout out to my new friends on this tour group. Some from Scotland, England, San Francisco, generally all over, and may were traveling on tours through Vietnam which brought them together in this place.
Since I cannot directly engage most of the population here because of my ignorance of language, it was nice to share impressions with people from various cultures about our shared experiences. From age, to status, to languages, we only shared 2 things. This tour and English. But we had a block to build from.
And that was the fact none of us could understand the tour guide.
