The Cham Sculpture Museum preserves sculpture items featuring the nation’s glorious period of culture and civilization.
The museum is located at No2, Road 209, Da Nang City. It was built according to French archaeologist Henri Parmentier and completed in 1919. It became a place to preserve and research Cham sculpture in the central region.
The museum architecture uses both European and Cham motifs. It has been extended twice, but the character of the original architecture has been well preserved.
The first extension started in the early 30s and finished in 1936, with two new galleries providing display space for the objects added in the 1920s and 1930s.
Archeologist Henri Parmentier arranged the display in order of the areas where the sculptures were found.
The second extension began in 2002 with the two-storey buildings covering another 1000 square metres. The new buildings provide more space for display, storage, archives, restoration workshop and offices for staff.
The display place includes Quang Tri, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai corridors, Tra Kieu, My Son, Dong Duong, Thap Mam-Binh Dinh and extention.
There are different ways of arranging Cham sculpture items, depending on type of materials, date, and content.
This was the first sculpture museum in Vietnam (early 20th century). Displayed items feature cultural, spiritual and ritual lives of the Cham people. Most works depict Hinduism genii and others reflect the people’s daily lives.
Source: VOV News [January 20, 2011]