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Mission

The Vietnamese Women’s Museum’s mission is to enhance public knowledge and understanding of the history and cultural heritage of Vietnamese women in historical and contemporary life; to build up the museum to become a center for preservation and cultural exchange, thus contributing to promoting gender equality and the progress of women.

History

The museum building in 1987

The Vietnamese Women’s Museum (VWM) was established in 1987 and run by the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU). The founder of the museum is Madam Nguyen Thi Dinh, former Deputy Chairwoman of the Council of State, and former Chairwomen of the Vietnam Women’s Union. The museum’s foundation aims to preserve historical documents and artifacts to educate future generations. This building is also a promise of Madam Nguyen Thi Dinh to Vietnamese women throughout the entire country.

The VWM is centrally located on Ly Thuong Kiet Street, near Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter. This is the most ancient street in the capital city with many French-style buildings

In 1991, VWM began construction and opened officially to the public in 1995. In late 2010, following four years of extensive upgrades and renovations, VWM reopened to the public. VWM established three main permanent exhibitions: Women in Family; Women in History; and Women’s Fashion, as well as a temporary exhibition: Worshipping Mothers Goddess: Pure – Heart – Beauty.

VWM has a diverse collection of more than 40,000 materials and artifacts related to Vietnamese women. In addition to permanent exhibits, VWM also organizes many special thematic 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.

The museum building in 1995

The new museum building

In recent years, VWM entered a period of creative development and innovation, resulting in accolades from Vietnamese and international visitors.

Vietnamese Women’s Museum is honored to be recognized by TripAdvisor with a Certificate of Excellence. Reviews on the site state: “One of the best attractions in many consecutive years and in the top 25 most interesting by TripAdvisor – one of the most prestigious world tourist websites museums in Asia”. The museum has also received the prize “Vietnamese Women 2015” and one of the top destinations in Vietnam in 2015 and 2016 from Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

Museum’s capacity

VWM offers diversified experiences and capacity in organizing and conducting the following:

Consultancy activities for cultural and exhibit projects:

Research and development ideas
Exhibit and brand name design
Communication

Event co-organization

Indoor events: Temporary exhibits, Prize ceremonies, Contests Promotions etc.
Outdoor activities: Bookfair, Flower Festival, Agricultural products fair, Fashion shows, etc.