Antique collector Nguyen Ngoc An lives and grew up in Mui Ne ward, Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province.
He is the owner of Mui Ne Antiquities Museum - the first private museum in Binh Thuan recognized in 2023, which has so far welcomed more than 100,000 visitors, students, and domestic and foreign researchers to visit and learn.
Sharing with reporters, Mr. An said that he has been passionate about collecting antiques since he was a child, and used to skip his snack money to buy back ancient metal coins found by his classmates.
By 1990, he had acquired nearly 10,000 artifacts, purchased and begged from local gardeners, pond diggers, and found along Mui Ne beach.
His passion for collecting antiques also came from history lessons in 6th grade, from which Mr. An became passionate about discovering and collecting antiques.
Over the past 30 years, Mr. An has collected more than 100,000 antiques. Initially, the items he collected included stone axes, bronze axes, beads, pieces of terracotta pottery... Later, through research, he learned that they were Sa Huynh pottery.
The most valuable antiques currently in his museum are 4 sets of 20-bar lithophones (each set has 5 bars) of prehistoric people from 3,000 - 3,500 years BC found at the foot of Gia Bac Pass (bordering Binh Thuan province), some Dong Son bronze drums and Ly Tran bronze drums, historical ceramics from different periods and more than 200 ancient statues from different periods. In particular, there is a collection of Cham Royal heritage.
"Collecting antiques not only satisfies your passion, but you also have to know how to introduce the value of the antiques you collect to many other people to highlight the cultural and historical value of each period" - antique collector Nguyen Ngoc An shared.
And with that in mind, over the years, he has donated over 55,000 artifacts to over 50 schools, museums, and research centers across the country. Up to now, his Mui Ne Antiquities Museum still has about 50,000 artifacts.
With a passion for collecting antiques, Mr. An said he once sold a 1.6-hectare plot of land and some real estate in Mui Ne to have the money to buy valuable antiques. Currently, his family is in the business of providing food for resorts and running a coffee shop right at the museum to earn income and continue his passion for antiques.
"Before, my family did not support me spending a lot of money to collect antiques, but when they saw that this was a meaningful job, preserving historical values for the future, my family agreed," Mr. An added.
Mr. Vo Cap - Head of the Management Board of the Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee Base Relic Site under the Binh Thuan Provincial Museum visited the Mui Ne Antiquities Museum and assessed that the antique collector Nguyen Ngoc An had invested carefully, decorated solemnly, and honored the value of national heritage. In addition, the Mui Ne Antiquities Museum also contributes to promoting and developing tourism in Binh Thuan province.
With his tireless contributions, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An has been awarded certificates of merit by local leaders, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and hundreds of certificates of merit and commemorative medals by universities, museums and other units, for his contributions to the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage.
