The Gender Museum:
Striving for change and equal opportunity
Vietnamese Women’s Museum
Originally
opened to the public in 1995 by the Vietnamese Women’s Union, the Vietnamese
Women’s Museum (VWM) is innovative and progressive in its affirmative stance as
a gender museum. VWM is evocative of the resilient, hard-working, warm-hearted
spirit of Vietnamese people. The exhibits share the personal stories of a wide
array of women including: revolutionaries, ethnic minorities, single mothers, market
stall holders, victims of domestic violence, and sufferers of HIV/AIDS.
The
exterior of the Vietnamese Women’s Museum
We
enter the museum through a side nook, noticing a platform of stairs that lead
us up and away from the bustling mayhem of Hanoi, drawing us to rows of
photographic portraits of a diverse range of women in Vietnamese society. The
tall glass windows and doors feature silhouettes of female farmers and fighters.
As we enter, we are greeted with a large statue of the mother and carer of
Vietnam – a symbol of female resilience.
A colourful array of conical hats hang from the ceiling, which is reminiscent
of lanterns adorning the night markets of Hanoi. These hats are gender neutral
and are traditionally worn by both men and women to shield the sun when working
in the rice fields. This installation was created as part of a collaborative
project by victims of domestic violence.1 The project reached out to
these women and provided a safe place for reflection and expression.
The conical hat installation created by women
suffering from domestic violence.
This museum
is empathetic and real with its approach to education. Director Ms Nguyen Thi
Bich Van spoke of numerous independent learning activities including: interactive
pieces which enable the visitor to feel the weight of food baskets used by
market store holders, push a streamer, and wear a fake pregnant stomach.2
This museum exemplifies a free-choice learning model that promotes participation
and encourages the viewer to walk around the space and think about the
relationships between different exhibits. Visitors are intrigued and feel a part
of the experience.
It is unique to have a gender museum which is
both inclusive and educative, thus displaying facts and stories that sum up the
crucial role that Vietnamese women have played throughout time. These stories
do not often enter mainstream historical museums, and it is a credit to this
museum that they have allowed for such voices to be heard. The museum nurtures
a sense of community for Hanoi and a support network for those in need.
The last
place I visited in the museum was the art space upstairs, which really sparked my interest. The edgy mirror walls and contemporary paintings set this space
apart from the rest of the museum. I would like to see this space expand to
include more public artwork by artistans from the local community. A
contemporary voice would connect with a younger audience. Education about the
artworks could even be integrated into school programs as the museum has many
relationships with teachers and schools in Vietnam.3
The visit
to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum encouraged me to ask how can museums in Australia work together with Vietnamese museums to
create educational programs that cater not only to their local community but
also to the global community? International collaboration can lead to a
broader understanding of different cultures, which hopefully can lead to a
stronger support network. Globalisation means a more diverse and ever-changing
audience that the museum will need to engage. By working together it is
possible to use our museums as a platform for change... Together we are
stronger.
Isabella Baker
1. Bich, Van Nguyen Thi (2012). Vietnam: Activities
Targeting Marginalized Women’s Groups for Gender Equality and Development. Curator:
The Museum Journal 55: 301–312.
2. Tuyet, Nguyen Thi (2007). The Vietnam Women’s
Museum: The Promotion of Women’s Rights to Gender Equality and Gender. Museum
International No. 236, Vol. 59, No. 4,70-79.
3. Mostov, M. (2014). Making Space for
Experimentation, Collaboration, and Play: Re-imagining the Drop-in Visitor
Experience. Journal of Museum Education 39 (2): 162-174.
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