Museum of Cham Sculpture
Being there
Founded in 1915 by the École Française d'Extrême Orient, it houses a collection of stone sculptures from the Hindu-practicing Cham civilization, which occupied much of central Vietnam in the first millennium CE to about the 14th century. The museum can be toured in about an hour. The sculptures are nearly all made of sandstone, and some have weathered badly over the centuries, but you can still appreciate the delightful artistic quality of the figures, which include shiva, garudas, nagas, lions, monkeys, and elephants. The collection also includes striking examples of the ancient Hindu icons of fertility: lingam altars decorated around the sides with rows of breasts. The sculptures were mostly removed from the facades or interiors of Cham ruins (which would have been looted otherwise.) The ruins themselves, such as nearby My Son, now tend to be crumbling piles of bricks and somewhat disappointing, giving little sense of the spectacular artwork produced by the Cham civilization. Any visit to My Son should be paired with a visit to the Cham Museum. The collection is also interesting to compare with Balinese sculpture and the early, Hindu phase of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The museum was given a makeover in 2019, but post-COVID the souvenir shop, cafe, interactive displays, and even the air-con has been switched off. Arrive early to beat the heat, and beware of the awkward 2.5-hour siesta during the middle of the day.
The story
The Museum of Cham Sculpture (Vietnamese: Bảo tàng Điêu khắc Chăm) is a museum located in Hải Châu District, Đà Nẵng, central Vietnam, near the Han River.
The establishment of a Cham sculpture museum in Da Nang was first proposed in 1902 by the Department of Archaeology of EFEO. Henri Parmentier, a prominent archaeologist of the department, made great contributions to the campaign for its construction. Reportedly founded in 1915 as the Musée Henri Parmentier, its first building opened in 1919 and was designed by two French architects, M. Deleval and M. Auclair, who were inspired by Parmentier to use some traditional Cham elements in the composition. Prior to the establishment of the museum, the site was known as the "garden of sculptures" and many Cham sculptures that had been collected in Da Nang, Quảng Nam and elsewhere had been brought there over the preceding twenty years.
The museum has been expanded twice. The first expansion was in the mid-1930s, with two new galleries providing display space for the objects added in the 1920s and 1930s. Henri Parmentier directed the display based on the areas where sculptures were found. The 1000 meter square of floor space was arranged for the collections of Mỹ Sơn, Trà Kiệu, Đồng Dương, Tháp Mẫm, Quang Tri, Quảng Ngãi, Bình Định and Kon Tum. In 2002, the Museum was again expanded with the two-story building providing an additional 1000 square meters. The new building provides not only space for display, but also for storage, a library, a restoration workshop and offices for staff.
Before 2007, the Museum was managed by Da Nang Museums, an administrative organ in charge of the city's museums and heritage. In 2008 it became affiliated with the city Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism.