DistantNews
Support us
Ho Chi Minh City museums urged to connect with community life
🇻🇳 Vietnam /Culture & Society

Ho Chi Minh City museums urged to connect with community life

From Tuổi Trẻ · () Vietnamese

Translated from Vietnamese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Ho Chi Minh City's museums need to become more engaging and connected to community life, experts say.
  • Current museums often focus on displaying artifacts rather than telling stories, leading to a disconnect with the public.
  • Proposed solutions include developing a central museum, specialized thematic museums, community heritage spaces, and a digital museum.

Ho Chi Minh City's museums must evolve beyond traditional displays to become more engaging and relevant to contemporary life, according to experts.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Hau noted that while the city has diverse museums, many lack appeal, exhibit overlapping collections, and feature monotonous displays. She criticized the "closed" traditional model, which prioritizes artifact exhibition over storytelling, resulting in a fragmented historical narrative. "Most museums are not closely connected to community life," she stated, adding that this disconnect diminishes the "vibrancy" of cultural heritage and the public's sense of ownership.

Các bảo tàng vẫn vận hành theo mô hình truyền thống "khép kín", thiên về trưng bày hiện vật hơn là kể chuyện và diễn giải hiện vật, dẫn đến sự rời rạc trong cách tái hiện lịch sử.

— Dr. Nguyen Thi HauDr. Hau criticized the traditional museum model for prioritizing artifacts over storytelling, leading to a fragmented historical narrative.

Hau proposed a four-component museum system: a central "brain" museum to narrate the city's overall development, specialized thematic museums focusing on areas like art, war, or urban economy, "community heritage spaces" encompassing markets and residential areas to showcase living heritage, and a digital museum to connect the entire ecosystem via a heritage map and AR/VR technologies.

Phần lớn bảo tàng chưa gắn kết chặt chẽ với đời sống cộng đồng, việc kết nối sự kiện, nhân vật, hiện vật trưng bày trong bảo tàng với bối cảnh lịch sử và đời sống đương đại làm giảm tính "sống động" của di sản văn hóa và cảm nhận di sản thuộc về cộng đồng.

— Dr. Nguyen Thi HauDr. Hau explained how the lack of community connection diminishes the vibrancy of cultural heritage.

Mã Thanh Cao, former Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts, emphasized the importance of robust information gathering and research to provide fresh content for visitors, viewing technology as merely a tool for access. Meanwhile, Nguyễn Thị Thắm, former Director of the Southern Women's Museum, stressed the need to shed the perception of museums as solely "old" and to make them "breathe with the pulse of life" to attract youth, highlighting their educational mission and the potential of social media for promotion.

Trần Thế Thuận, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, announced that from 2026 to 2030, the city's museum system will focus on enhancing professional quality, scientific research, and artifact collection.

Bảo tàng phải gắn với hơi thở cuộc sống.

— Nguyễn Thị ThắmNguyễn Thị Thắm, former Director of the Southern Women's Museum, emphasized the need for museums to be dynamic and connected to contemporary life.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tuổi Trẻ in Vietnamese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog