Established in Hanoi in 1997, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology has served as a research centre and a public museum with a mission to collect, document, preserve and exhibit the cultural heritage of Vietnam ’s 54 ethnic groups.
The museum is preserving over 29,000 exhibits, including around 25,000 on Vietnamese ethnic communities that reflect every aspect of their tangible and intangible culture, fuelling national solidarity and pride, while raising awareness of equality between ethnic groups.
In addition to housing indoor and outdoor exhibitions, the museum will be the first of its kind in Vietnam to introduce culture from across Southeast Asia via a large display and performance space, which is currently under construction.
The museum has welcomed over 3.2 million domestic and foreign tourists thanks to the variety of activities it offers, such as cultural heritage preservation and traditional folk music performances.
People visit not only for entertainment but also to study the history and multicultural identities of each ethnic group.
The museum was cited among the most attractive tourist destinations in Hanoi for 2012 by the TripAdvisor.com tourism website.
This year, the museum was ranked sixth in the list of 25 most attractive museums in Asia.
Since its establishment, the museum has been a highlight of Vietnam ’s museum system and a prestigious cultural destination for visitors.