Museum visits are not yet popular in Vietnam.
The Vietnam Women's Museum welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. The museum attracts a large number of international visitors, of which a high proportion are visitors from the following countries: Australia, the US, France, the UK, Germany, Spain, Korea, Japan, and the Netherlands. The number of Vietnamese visitors to the museum has also increased, especially families, schools, and young people, more crowded on major national holidays. Meanwhile, the Vietnam National Museum of History welcomes about 350-400 visitors every day.
Sharing with Lao Dong reporter, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hoan - Deputy Director of the National History Museum - said that statistics in the first 9 months of 2024, the number of visitors compared to the same period last year increased by nearly 16%.
The National Museum of History currently preserves and maintains about 200,000 documents, artifacts, historical and cultural materials of Vietnam, artifacts about Vietnamese history, including many rare collections of artifacts and 26 national treasures (as of the end of 2023).
In the past, it is undeniable that Vietnamese people were not interested in visiting museums, and did not have the habit of visiting museums. But in recent years, on holidays and festivals, the number of visitors including families and groups of young people visiting museums has increased.
Mr. Ngo Duy Ung - Deputy Director of the Vietnam Women's Museum - commented: "Many people, especially young people, still think that museums are places that only contain "dry" artifacts and complicated historical information. The culture of visiting museums is not really popular in Vietnam. Especially, in the context of many other entertainment and tourism options, museums are sometimes not a priority for people."
Therefore, in the internet age, museums must strive to innovate their communications to keep up with trends, attract visitors, and further promote heritage values. That is also the concern of the National History Museum.
“The goal is to make visitors see the museum as a familiar address, a trustworthy educational place,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hoa.
Make it concrete by action.
The Deputy Director of the National History Museum shared that education staff strive to make lessons suitable for each age group, each grade, and each school. The museum has also updated and oriented activities in line with the digital transformation trend, so that teachers can also use documents and artifacts to teach in schools or can connect with other museums and relics across the country to form a network to implement online education programs.
The National Museum of History is one of the first museums in Vietnam to apply 3D interactive technology. The application of 3D to introduce artifacts is not only to display and introduce heritage to a wider audience but also to help teachers have online documents of vivid artifacts for teaching.
The approach of the Vietnam Women's Museum is that in addition to the regular exhibition system, the museum organizes many thematic exhibitions with new approaches, reflecting the development and changes of contemporary society with attractive cultural and historical topics.
The museum grounds are where cultural exchange events, artifact reception, exchanges, discussions, or educational programs and rich experiences on many historical and cultural topics about Vietnamese women take place.
Currently, the Vietnam Women's Museum aims to reflect the development and changes of contemporary society through projects targeting different audiences, especially women and children.
In order for museums to become attractive destinations, there needs to be comprehensive innovation from the way they display to the application of technology and the way they operate. Only then can museums truly become attractive cultural destinations, contributing to the preservation and promotion of the cultural heritage values of the capital.
