'Feverish' to worry about preserving national treasures

The serious incident in Hue when a person blatantly jumped on the national treasure of the Nguyen Dynasty throne and broke the decoration has sounded the alarm about the danger of especially valuable artifacts being violated. In Ho Chi Minh City, museums that are preserving and displaying national treasures have also quickly implemented solutions.

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History is a place to display and introduce to the public 12 national treasures, all of which are unique, belonging to the Buddhist and Hindu art of the Phu Nam - Oc Eo culture (1st - 7th century), Champa culture (2nd - 17th century), such as: Buddha statue in the Amaravati art style, statue of Vishnu, statue of goddess Durga, statue of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara... Every day, the museum attracts a large number of domestic and international visitors, so the protection work has been strictly enhanced.

National treasures at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History are protected in glass frames.

PHOTO: QUYNH TRAN

Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History, said: "We currently assign a security force of 10 full-time security guards to be on duty regularly, using our own budget. We urge our staff to work with a high sense of vigilance and utmost responsibility. This team has the expertise to handle emergency incidents well, ensuring security, order and safety for the displayed treasures."

Before the unfortunate incident in Hue , almost all national treasures at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History had been placed in sturdy glass frames, with QR codes attached so that visitors could find out information themselves, avoiding direct contact with the artifacts. Only the set of Buddha statues made of Lagerstroemia wood (recognized as a national treasure in 2013) remained, because of its size, so the museum was promoting the work of protecting and covering it with glass taller than a person and was waiting for more funding to complete it.

At the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts, two national treasure paintings, Vuon Xuan Trung Nam Bac by Nguyen Gia Tri and Thanh Nien Thanh Dong by Nguyen Sang, are monitored 24/7 by infrared cameras. "Because Vuon Xuan Trung Nam Bac is 5 meters long, experts believe that installing thick glass will certainly reduce its aesthetics and hinder its enjoyment. Therefore, we are considering it. In addition to regularly monitoring the status of national treasures, the museum has developed and submitted to competent authorities a protection and preservation plan, including the installation of standard glass. Currently, the museum has assigned additional staff to support and survey the use of protective glass. However, we still have to leave a natural art space for visitors, not creating a feeling of suffocation and tension," said Pham Ngoc Uyen, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts.

Coming to the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, where two national treasures are on display, the unique Luong Tai Hau Chi An bronze seal, made of bronze, cast in the 14th year of Minh Mang (1833), and the 5-dong bill printing mold from 1947, made from copper alloy, we see that security work is being given top priority. According to Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Museum Doan Thi Trang: "We are divided into inner and outer zones 24/7. Outside, the security force both welcomes guests and ensures security and order. Inside the exhibition area, 15 personnel are divided into shifts for each position, under the management of the general department to coordinate together. At the position of the two national treasures displayed in the glass cabinet, the museum has fully sealed and monitored daily".

Ho Chi Minh City Museum of Fine Arts assigns security forces at the area displaying the lacquer painting Thanh Nien Thanh Dong.

PHOTO: QUYNH TRAN

"In addition to the important issue of human resources, the Ho Chi Minh City Museum also has a modern monitoring system, an alarm system when there is an incident... so it basically meets the requirements, contributing to promoting the value of artifacts to visitors. However, in the coming time, museums also need more systematic investment to do a good job of preserving and protecting national treasures," Ms. Trang emphasized.

Remove bottlenecks

Protecting national treasures is not only the professional responsibility of museums, but also the mission of preserving national memories and identity. Faced with the risk of national treasures being damaged when displayed, Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan frankly said: "Although public museums in Vietnam play a central role in preserving and promoting heritage values, they are still facing many shortcomings and limitations in protecting treasures from the risk of damage from bad actors, due to limitations in facilities and protective equipment. Many national treasures are still displayed in regular glass cabinets, without impact-resistant glass, sensors, safety locks or microclimate control. Touching artifacts, taking photos in violation of regulations, and even climbing onto the display platform are quite common phenomena. Many places do not have clear warning signs or lack permanent staff to remind visitors, leading to unexpected damage. These are bottlenecks that need to be removed."

Currently, most museums have not developed specific response plans to vandalism, theft or natural disasters related to treasures. Mr. Tuan gave an example of many large museums abroad that have professional security systems to control the security of visitors entering and leaving, and put luggage through scanners. Treasures are kept in modern glass cabinets to avoid the risk of damage or theft of paintings, and can be explosion-proof, bulletproof, and fireproof. In case of an incident, the door system automatically slams down to prevent bad guys from escaping...

"We hope to have more funds to modernize the exhibition, equip audio-visual equipment to facilitate the experience for visitors, and protect the treasures. The multimedia display cabinet combining projection and interaction is currently quite expensive, from 500 million to a billion VND, so it is still not possible to do it," Ms. Doan Thi Trang confided.

From the serious incident in Hue, museums in Ho Chi Minh City with national treasures also requested the city leaders and the Department of Culture and Sports to pay attention to investing more funds, supporting the installation of dehumidifiers, air conditioners, environmental control machines, standard lighting in the display system..., at the same time, have a treatment preservation regime, propose inviting scientific organizations, experts to advise on preservation according to each type, material, current status and increase the budget to hire professional security forces to maintain the best preservation environment for artifacts.

In my opinion, there should be specific and unified national regulations on standards for preserving and protecting national treasures in museums and relics. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism should also organize interdisciplinary inspections; develop emergency response procedures when incidents occur with national treasures. In addition, provincial and municipal People's Committees should issue regulations on protecting national treasures appropriate to local conditions, based on the Law on Cultural Heritage and related documents.

Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan , Director of Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/sot-vo-lo-giu-bao-vat-quoc-gia-185250528195534489.htm