Restoring and upgrading a museum of Cham sculpture

(Cinet)- A museum of Cham sculpture is a graceful building and an eclectic mix of French-colonial architecture and Cham elements set in picturesque surroundings by the Han river. Restoring and upgrading the museum is an essential aspect to keep and develop some cultural values of Vietnam.

According to Prof., Nguyen Van Huy, vice-head of Vietnam’s Center for Cultural Research and Development, a seminar ” an approach to restore and upgrade a museum of Cham sculpture” organized on July 17 in Da Nang.

The history of the museum starts in 1891 when Charles Lemire started to collect Cham sculptures that had been discovered in scattered areas of Quang Nam Province and brought them to Da Nang. The number of items increased to 90 by 1895 and they were housed at the “Tourane Garden“, where the museum would later be built.

The Museum preserves sculpture items featuring the cultural, spiritual and ritual lives of the Cham people.Henri Parmentier arranged the displays in order of the areas where the objects were found.Almost 300 terracotta and stone artifacts, all dating from the 6^th to 13^th centuries, are on display at the museum.They were discovered mostly in the central region of Viet Nam, from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan.The museum houses the world’s largest collection of Cham artifacts.

At the seminar, some experts proposed some measures and approaches to restore and upgrade the museum and exchange some international experiences to renew a space of the museum.

Some representatives at the seminar approves for keeping the old building 1975 to maintain as architecture heritage and restoring the old building to increase more area to use.

Restoring and upgrading a museum of Cham sculpture Related image(s)