Vietnamese ethnic groups’ exhibition – diversity of Vietnamese culture

Vietnamese ethnic groups’ exhibition – diversity of Vietnamese culture

The exhibition of “Vietnamese ethnic groups along with development of the country” will be held from May 9 to May 14, 2010 at Vietnam Art and Cultural exhibition center in ${bigcity_Hanoi:"Hanoi"}. This is one of many cultural activities organized to feature the upcoming great event of 1000th Thang Long – Ha Noi anniversary.

Exhibited in the area of 600 square meters, “Ethnic minority communities in Vietnamese ethnic groups” is the highlighted subject of this exhibition. Upon the similarities and differences of regional culture, the exhibition introduces various residential areas through documents, images, objects on display, architectural housing mock-up which represents the unique culture of each ethnic minority group and its unity in Vietnamese ethnic minority communities. The subject, in particular, shows residential areas of ethnic minorities settle in the northern valley such as Tay, Nung, Thai, Muong, Lao, Lu, San Chay, Hoa, Ngai, San Diu… who gather in a village consists of a few hundreds of households living in front of the mountain and on the bank of the rivers and streams. The exhibition presents house on stilts of Thai ethnic minority, traditional fabric weaving of Tay, Nung, Thai, Muong ethnic groups and special women clothes such as indigo-blue dress of Tay women, patterned dress of San Chay, dresses and “pieu” scarf of Thai people. Various folk arts of valley residents are introduced at this event such as “Tac xinh” dance of San Chay people, singing of Tay, Nung ethnic groups, “Xoe” dance of Thai people and pan-pipe.

Another area is central coastal where Cham people settle which is represented by many famous Cham towels with unique sculpture and architecture such as Hoa Lai, Porome, Pho Hai towels. On a side, there are objects on display, photos and paintings introduce art and culture, traditional festivals of Cham people. One of their famous festivals is Kate which features Cham’s religion, their manners and customs. Next to this area is Truong Son – Tay Nguyen (central highlands) exhibition. This is a settlement of various ethnic groups such as Ca Tu, Ba Na, Gia Rai, E De, Xo Dang, Ma, Mong… Visiting this area, people observe sculpture works of a charnel-house and traditional housing architectures. The most popular and famous is “nha rong” (central highlands communal house), the place of community activities. Honored at this year event is Cong Chieng culture of central highlands which is acknowledged by UNESCO as World cultural heritage. Down to the last is the show of the Southern area which includes King, Khmer, Cham and Chinese Vietnamese people. They are represented by villages, hamlets, pagodas, festivals, many cultural and agricultural works and production activities.

During the time of the exhibition, many cultural activities will take place everyday such art performance programs, movies, traditional fashion shows of various ethnic minority groups. The general exhibition plus detailed presentations of each ethnic minority residential areas from the North to the South of Vietnam create a picture of unity and diversity in Vietnamese culture.