Exhibition showcases wartime ao dai
The Vietnamese Women through Wars
exhibit includes 125 photos, documents and objects related to the
costume and to women's lives during the war.
Huynh Ngoc Van,
director of the museum, said the exhibition aimed to introduce the
beauty of ao dai and its convenience as well as its use by female
soldiers and Vietnamese women in activities to protect the country.
She said it was also hoped that the exhibit would send a message to the public to preserve and promote the costume.
On display are ao dai worn by women prisoners, politicians, soldiers,
and students, including Truong My Le and Nguyen Thi Phi Van who took
part in various movements of the Sai Gon - Gia Dinh Union beginning in
1960.
The exhibition also includes photos of students in ao
dai taking part in parades against wars in Sai Gon, now Ho Chi Minh
City, in the 1960s and 1970s.
Various exhibits, such as
poems on ao dai and sewing machines for making costumes for the soldiers
are on display as well.
During the exhibition, there are
seminars and discussions of ao dai in old and modern times, and the role
of the costume in political movements in Sai Gon.
The
exhibition, opened yesterday by the museum, the Cultural Heritage
Association of HCM City and the Si Hoang Trading Service Company,
celebrates the Vietnam Heritage Day.
The exhibition closes on December 17.-VNA