The Vietnam Women’s Museum delivers a beautifully presented tribute to the women of Vietnam across the ages. There are plenty of historical contexts alongside a wealth of information on today’s more modern Vietnamese woman.
The museum is run by The Women’s Union of Vietnam which is recognised as one of the country’s most powerful movements.
Inside the museum there is lots of narrative as women of the rice paddy fields, service workers, street vendors, female business leaders, academics and mothers are all well represented. Additionally there is plenty of information on everyday life including marriage, family life, fashion and life changing rituals. Interestingly, there are also exhibits on the part women played in Vietnam’s wars.
Displays are very well presented in a storytelling format with signs also in English and French. Historic documentation including Taoist books of the Dao people and wedding cards from the Kinh community will give visitors an in-depth insight into better understanding the women of Vietnam. Photographs and film footage documenting the life of heroic mothers during wartime are moving exhibits that should not be missed.
Vietnam Women’s Museum Highlights
Hanoi’s Vietnam Women’s Museum features displays across five floors delivered over three sections – women in family, women in history and women’s fashions. There are more than 1,000 artefacts on display depicting the many faces and changing roles of Vietnamese women. The Women in History section showcases: Vietnamese women from 1930-1954, Southern and then Northern Women from 1954-1975, Unification, Vietnam’s Heroic Mothers and Portraits of Contemporary Women.
Fascinating exhibits include a wooden tray that a female leader of the Indochina Communist Party once used to print propaganda leaflets in Long An from 1936-1939. The fashion section is full of jewellery and skilfully crafted clothing, including batik and woven garments.
Vietnam Women’s Museum
Visitors to the fashion floor can observe the earrings of ethnic Mong women and bracelets worn by Cotu women. In addition to the permanent displays, there are also regular special exhibitions at the museum which often tackle hard-hitting contemporary women’s issues such as human trafficking.
- Opening Hours: From 08:00-16:30 every day except Monday
- Location: Ly Thuong Kiet Street in Hanoi’s old quarter in the Hoan Kiem district.
- Remarks: Ticket bookings are also available online
- How to get there: You can reach the museum via bus numbers 8, 31, 36 or 49 or alternatively via taxi.
