Heavy lifting
It would be hard enough to mount an exhibition
spanning 4,000 years of history, with 460 treasures
drawn from 22 different museums. But add in the
complexity of dealing with Vietnam--a bureaucratic
country unfamiliar with overseas art loans--and the
project takes on mind-boggling proportions.
Originally scheduled for October 2001, "Vietnam: Art
And Cultures From Prehistoric Times To The Present
Day" is now due to open at the Royal Museums of Art
and History in Brussels in September, moving to the
Vienna Museum of Ethnology in April 2004.
Why the delay? First, a Vietnamese law dating from
1954 made it illegal to send ancient objects outside the
country. A new law authorizing such loans only came
into effect in January this year.
Next came the difficulties of valuing and insuring
treasures--a first-time effort for most of the 13
participating Vietnamese museums. (Nine European
museums are also pitching in.) With no legal domestic
market in antiquities, the Vietnamese museum directors
were reduced to checking out some prices through
e-Bay auctions over the Internet. All valuations were
subject to approval by state officials in Hanoi, which
caused further delays.
But after all the complex negotiations, most parties
appear satisfied. Some Vietnamese museum officials
cite this as a learning experience, professing admiration
for the foreign curators' planning skills. As for the
exhibition itself, many hope it will boost Vietnam's
profile and pull in more tourists. That helps explain why
the National Museum of Vietnamese History in Hanoi
declined to lend a particularly fine bronze drum.
Message to overseas museum-goers: "Please come to
my country, and come to my museum, to see the most
beautiful objects," says Nguyen Tuan Dai, head of the
institution's information and exhibition department.
Vietnam : art and cultures from prehistoric times to the present day
From September 17, 2003, at the Royal Museums of
Art and History in Brussels (www.kmkg-mrah.be); and
from April 2004 at the Museum of Ethnology in Vienna
(www.ethno-museum.ac.at)
By Margot Cohen - The Far Eastern Economic Review - March 06, 2003.
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