May is a month that is special for cultural heritage conservationist’s in Vietnam and in the world, as the International Museum Day is on the 18^th of May. This day shows the importance of preserving, conserving and promoting cultural values in daily life. In the morning on the 18^th of May, the Vietnamese Women’s Museum organised an artefact exchange to celebrate the International Museum Day 2022. The topic of the artefact exchange was “Museums – where love for heritage blooms” .

Coming to attend the event, we have Mr. Pham Dinh Phong – Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage- Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; AsPro. PhD. Do Van Tru – Chairman of Vietnam Cultural Heritage Uninon; PhD. Luu Hung, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; AsPro. PhD. Nguyen Duy Thieu, former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology with the collaborators of the museum, artifact collectors and press agencies.

During today’s event, the Vietnamese Women’s Museum received artefacts from Mr Mark Rapoport, a professional Vietnamese culture collector. Mr Mark moved to Hanoi in 2001 and has spent the last 20 years collecting cultural artefacts of ethnic groups in Vietnam. His collection includes up to 10 000 artefacts. 10 years ago, the Vietnamese Womne’s Museum met with Mr Mark. During this time, Mr Mark donated 500 artefacts. This was the largest donation that the Women’s Museum has had and included a variety of shapes and materials, such as agriculture tools, kitchen equipment, betel nuts, jewelleries, costumes, textiles, sculpture and art. The artefacts are culturally impressive and valuable. To Mr Mark, they are also memories of collecting trips and experiences of Vietnamese culture.

While giving a speech at the ceremony, Mr Mark said, “I give this artifacts to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum because I cherish and trust this place. Here will be the place that preserves and best for promoting their values.

Mr .Pham Dinh Phong – Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage- Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said at the ceremony: “In the past two years, when the museum industry has been heavily affected by the COVID 19 epidemic, The Vietnamese Women’s Museum has sustained their activities very well; especially artefacts collection. Internationally, the Vietnam Women’s Museum has been voted as an excellent museum in Asia for many years on the travel website Trip Advisor. I highly appreciate the efforts of the VietNam Women’s Museum in the past time.”

During the artefact reception ceremony, there was an exchange program with Mr Mark Rapoport. Guests had the opportunity to listen to Mr Mark share his stories about the journey of finding, collecting and preserving the cultural values of the ethnic groups in Vietnam that he and his family love. Using the Mr Mark’s stories, the Women’s Museum wishes to spread the love and passion for cultural heritage to the public. The Women’s Museum is proud to be responsible for preserving and promoting the tangible and intangible cultural values. In the near future, the Women’s Museum hopes to continue to be a place for artefacts, collectors, cultural researchers and the community to connect.