Vietnam museums collect Khmer antiques

Tra Vinh Province’s General Museum in southern Vietnam recently announced that concluding a two-year project, it has collected a total of 326 artifacts used by people of Khmer ethnic minority some hundreds of years ago.

Of the artifacts, 238 are agricultural, fishing tools while the other 88 are art and sculpture items.

Most of the items, which dated back to some hundred years ago, were made from different kinds of precious wood.

The collectibles, which are the result of a two-year project called “Collecting Khmer community’s agricultural, fishing tools and art items,” are now preserved and displayed at the Tra Vinh Khmer Culture Museum, located at Zone 4, Ward 8 in Tra Vinh City.

Since being founded in 1997, the museum, one of the country’s only two Khmer culture museums and one of the province’s popular tourist attractions, has dedicated to the collection and preservation of Khmer ethnic people’s artifacts. It receives over 90,000 local and international visitors each year.

The provincial People’s Committee recently invested more than VND4 billion (US$189,000) to help the museum improve its facilities and artifact preservation.

The majority of the Khmer population in Vietnam lives in the southwestern region, particularly Tra Vinh, Soc Trang and An Giang provinces, which are home to around 453 Khmer pagodas.

In Tra Vinh Province, Khmer people account for some 30% of the entire population and boast a rich, diverse culture.

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