Explore private museums: New cultural attractions in Da Nang
DNO - In addition to a network of public museums, Da Nang has, in recent years, created favorable conditions for the establishment and development of private museums, turning them into attractive destinations on the city's cultural and tourism map.
Building a network of private museums
The Dien Ban Dong Ward-based Apollo Medical Museum is the first medical museum in Vietnam, and has been in operation for four months.
The museum has attracted a large number of visitors with 20% of its exhibits displayed directly and 80% presented through modern technology and immersive experiences, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 3D simulations.
Visitors to the museum can explore traditional healing methods, major medical inventions, and the continuous progress of global medicine.
Developed by the Phan Chau Trinh University of Medicine, the museum is intended as a space for preserving medical heritage.
Before the Apollo Medical Museum, Da Nang was already home to several distinctive private museums.
A notable example is the Dong Dinh Museum, the city's first private museum. It was created from the dedication of Meritorious Artist Doan Huy Giao, who wished to preserve the values of national culture and indigenous nature.
Located on the Son Tra Peninsula with the theme “Garden of Memories”, the museum displays many valuable artifacts, antiques, works of art, a fishing village memory house, and an ethnographic exhibition house.
In particular, collections of Sa Huynh, Cham and Go Sanh ceramics, and artifacts related to Nam Tho fishing village have created a distinctive identity for the museum amid the green landscape of Son Tra.
After more than three years of operation, the Non Nuoc - Ngu Hanh Son Stone Carving Memory Museum welcomes tens of thousands of visitors annually, including many international groups connected through online platforms.
The museum features over 300 artifacts depicting the culture and daily life of the nearly 400-year-old Non Nuoc Stone Carving Village, thereby contributing to the preservation and promotion of both tangible and intangible cultural heritage at the Marble Mountains Tourist Area.
Meanwhile, the CSO Gallery Hoi An receives more than 15,000 visitors each year, including pupils, students, and domestic and international travelers.
CSO Gallery is a three-in-one museum: a museum of ancient coins, a museum of stamps, and a museum of the Tale of Kieu.
It houses more than 22,000 valuable artifacts, notably the unique collection of the Tale of Kieu, along with 58 currency collections comprising over 10,000 items dating back as far as 2,500 years.
Connecting with tourism
According to museum management units, for private museums to survive and grow, they need not only valuable artifacts but also compelling cultural stories that create interaction with visitors.
Many proposals have called on the city to provide additional support in terms of space, tour connectivity, and combined ticket packages to enhance the appeal of non-public museums.
The municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that the city is supporting private museums with legal procedures, preservation techniques, exhibitions, and image promotion on official tourism channels.
At the same time, Da Nang also encourages individuals and organizations to build more art museums, antique museums, and heritage preservation spaces under a socialized development approach.
The development of private museums not only contributes to preserving cultural values but also diversifies experiential tourism products, thereby adding more appeal to Da Nang on the cultural tourism map.