Overview

Vietnam Museum of Ethnology is a non-productive organization under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, which has the function of scientific research, collecting, inventorying, preserving, restoring artifacts and materials on the nation. It also placed organizing exhibitions, performances and other forms of activities aimed at introducing, disseminating and educating about the historical and cultural values of ethnic groups at home and abroad; provide research materials on ethnic groups to industries; training researchers, managers, and managers of museum anthropology.

The museum stores and displays many cultural artifacts of all 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups including 15,000 artifacts, 42,000 films (with color photos), 2190 positive films, 273 tapes of interviews, music, 373 video tape and 25 CD-ROM discs (as of 2000). These artifacts are classified according to different criteria such as ethnicity, utility, clothing, jewelry, agricultural tools, fishing gear, weapons, household items, musical instruments, religion-beliefs, weddings please, funeral and many other spiritual and social activities.