The Museum of Ethnology re-opened on Dec. 8, 2005 an exhibition titled "Vietnam: Journeys of Body, Mind and Spirit" introducing diverse customs and cultural nuances of 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam.

The exhibition is being held jointly by the American Museum of Natural History on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the normalisation of Vietnam-US ties.

The exhibition of 300 ceremonial and everyday objects is an illustrated portrait of culture and society in contemporary Vietnam. It reveals culture as a dynamic process that responds to changes and incorporates new ideas and trends.

The journeys of body, mind and spirit featured through festivals, rituals such as weddings and funerals, or ordinary visits to mountainous areas, are shown in pictures, videos and other items collected by the two museums. They take visitors through the many regions of this diverse country, from city to village to the upland communities of Vietnam's ethnic minorities, suggesting the complexity of modern Vietnamese life as seen in the synthesis of traditional and contemporary influences.

The exhibition was organised at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City from March 2003 to January 2004, and then traveled to the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Canada. Its collection was considered to be the most comprehensive one on Vietnamese life ever to be presented in the United States.

A new introductory section will show visitors in Hanoi how American audiences responded to the exhibition.

The return of this collection to its place of origin is also an occasion for American museum professionals to transfer knowledge, experience and technology in organising exhibitions to Vietnamese colleagues.

The exhibition will last until Dec. 25, 2005.

(Source: VNA)