Treasures of Red River Delta to go on display in Russia
Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - An
exhibition of antiques representing the different civilisations of Vietnam will
be held at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg from May 17 to
September 22.
It is one of the activities to celebrate the friendship between Vietnam and
Russia and marks the Russian Year in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Year in Russia.
The exhibition also celebrates President Ho Chi Minh’s birthday (May 19).
With the theme Treasures of the Red River, the exhibition
would include objects collected and stored at the Vietnam National
Museum of History and the Hai Phong City Museum, according to curator Phan
Tuan Dung.
Visitors will have a chance to understand different periods in the history of
the Red River Delta, a region of the Indochinese Peninsula, with the art,
traditions and way of life of Vietnamese people in the old days.
In ancient times, three cultures formed in today’s Vietnam: the Dong
Son culture in the north, Sa Huynh in the centre, and Dong Nai in the
south.
Dong Son (from 2500BC to first century AD) was found in the valleys of the Red,
Ma and Ca rivers, and produced artefacts from stone, bronze, iron, clay, glass,
wood and ivory.
“The most common are highly artistic cast bronze items that were characteristic
of this culture: work tools, domestic utensils, weapons and musical
instruments,” said Dung.
The most noteworthy artefact representing Dong Son are bronze
drums bearing depictions of rituals and processions, humans and
animals, as well as geometrical patterns, he said.
“The drums were used as musical instruments in rituals and to communicate. Dong
Son drums were also symbols of power.”
At the same time as the Dong Son culture, in the central part of Vietnam the Sa
Huynh culture (6000BC – second century AD) was developing.
Sa Huynh is known primarily for its funeral offerings, and remarkable
objects including jewellery and ceramics have been found in tombs.
In the Mekong Delta, the Dong Nai culture (dating back 2,500
years) is known for its iron and pottery objects.
The Oc Eo culture arose in the south-western part of the Mekong Delta from the
first to the sixth centuries. Along with traditional everyday artefacts, these
sites yielded fired pottery, seals and coins.
Dung said this culture showed the exchange in culture and trade between Vietnam
and regional countries such as China, Thailand and India. Among the finds made
at the sites were Hindu and Buddhist sculptures in wood, stone and
bronze.
Alongside the exhibits, the State Hermitage Publishing House has prepared a
scholarly illustrated catalogue for the exhibition with forewords by Mikhail
Borisovich Piotrovsky, general director of the State Hermitage Museum, and
Nguyen Van Cuong, director of the Vietnam National Museum of History.
They will provide more stories of the history and culture of Vietnam.
Expert Dung said the event would boost mutual
understanding and co-operation between the two countries in general and
Vietnamese museums and the Hermitage in particular.- VNS/VNA