Southern Women’s Museum is located at 202 Vo Thi Sau Street, Ward 7, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. That is the first established women’s museum in Vietnam. It stores and displays artifacts, documents and photos which mainly show the life of Southern women in the war period. Southern Women’s Museum is one of the Top 12 museums in Ho Chi Minh City and worth a visit.
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General information
Opening hours: 7:30 – 11:30, 13:30 – 17:00 from Sunday to Thursday
Address: 202 Vo Thi Sau, Ward 7, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. It is located 2.5 km from Ben Thanh Market so that visitors can reach it easily.
Website: http://www.baotangphunu.com
Email: baotangphununambo@gmail.com
Tel: +84 28 39.320.322 or +84 28 39.325.690
Entrance: free
History and buildings
Southern Women’s Museum was the palace of Mr.Nguyen Ngoc Loan, General Director of Police of the Republic of Vietnam regime. In 1984, it was used as a Traditional House of Southern Vietnamese Women. Southern Women’s Museum has been opened since April 29, 1985. At that time, the museum covered an area of 200 m2, has 6 thematic rooms.
On 8th March 1986, the construction of a new 4-story building with a total ground area of 3,000 m2 and a total floor area of 5,410,5 m2 next to the old building was started. In 18th May 1990, the grand opening of the new Southern Women’s Museum was announced. The hall has a capacity for nearly 1,000 people, an over 700 m2 storage.
The old building is used as an office for the museum’s staff. The museum has been in the system of the National Museum since 1990 and honored to get the first-class Labor Order in 1998.
Architecture
At this time, the museum comprises 2 buildings. The old building has 2 floors, designed in a French style with light yellow and white color, wood and glass windows. The new building has 4 floors, white color and modern architecture with airy facade and thousands of triangles. There is a rectangular entrance canopy supported by round pillars.
The old 2-story building is in front of the new 4-story building. The facade is unique with triangular cells which protects the building from the sun and rain but still make sure it is airy. The front yard is full of green trees and flowers
On this Ho Chi Minh Sightseeing Tour by Motorbike, Tracy’s team will show you lots of tourist attractions and brilliant gems in back alleys.
Front yard
Outdoors, there is a 4.5 m high statue of Vietnamese heroic mother in traditional Ao Ba Ba making a strong impression on visitors. At the bottom of the statue written 8 golden words: “Anh hùng – Bất khuất – Trung hậu – Đảm đang” (Heroic – Unconquerable – Loyal – Capable) which was awarded to Vietnamese women by Uncle Ho in the Vietnam War.
The front yard is rather large and full of green trees including traveller’s palms that look like fans. There are 4 paintings of 4 Vietnamese women in different types of traditional Ao Dai.
4 Vietnamese women in different types of traditional Ao Dai
What are displayed at Southern Women’s Museum?
As mentioned above, the artifacts are arranged in an area of 5,410,5 m2. The museum houses 38, 142 artifacts but displays only 929 the most typical ones, 14, 600 films, documents and paintings. In artifacts, films, documents and paintings, there are 2/3 ones of the Southern women’s life in war. They are divided into sections such as:
- Women in folk religion
- Womenswear and accessories of Southern women
- Traditional trade villages of ethnic women in South Vietnam
- Ao Dai – the essence of Vietnamese people
- Other sections about Southern women in the wars against the French colonial and America
- Sections about Southern women in the country’s development and protection
- Female political prisoner struggle in Southern prisons
- Foreign affairs
- When the country was invaded women also participate in troops
- Women troops
- Heroic Vietnamese mothers
- President Ho Chi Minh with Southern Vietnamese women
- Southern Vietnamese women in the cause of building the nation
What is inside the Southern Women’s Museum?
Ground floor
The museum has an 800-seat hall, a library containing 11,000 book titles with the special subject of women, a movie room on the ground floor of the new building.
1st floor
- Womenswear and accessories of Southern women
Accessories of Vietnamse women in the 20th century: bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings, etc.
Embroidery and bead decor footwears of Vietnamese women in the 20th century
Costume of ethnic women and Ao Dai
- Traditional trade villages of ethnic women in South Vietnam
A loom used by ethnic women in South Vietnam to make fabrics
Ethnic women in South Vietnam soak fabrics in wood buckets of dyes, then dry the fabrics
Turmeric is used to dye they yarn yellow, oil of cashew is used to dye the yarn orange, “Mac nua” nuts are used to dye the yarn black, saf ofpa keik is used to dye the yarn red by ethnic women in South Vietnam
Colorful sedge mats trade village
An old spinning wheel used to spin thread traditionally
- Ao Dai – the essence of Vietnam
Costumes of the Ladies in the palace of the Nguyen dynasty in 1920s. In the photo is Ho Thi Chi – wife of King Khai Dinh
Nice ladies in Ao Dai will take you around Ho Chi Minh City and enjoy the Saigon nightlife at its best. The highlights of the tour include amazing street foods at local restaurants which are missed by most of the tourists. You will not regret spending your night with the energetic Tracy’s team.
Modern wedding Ao Dai
26: Traditional wedding dress of Vietnamese women in early 20th century; 27: Traditional wedding dress of Vietnamese women in 1960; Traditional wedding dress of Vietnamese women in 1970
2nd floor
Sections on the 2nd floor include Female political prisoner struggle in Southern prisons, Foreign affairs, When the country was invaded women also participate in troops, Women troops. At this time, the 2nd floor is closed for maintenance. It will be opened soon.
3rd floor
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Heroic Vietnamese mothers
Vietnamese heroic mothers á heroines of the People’s Armed Forces: Mrs. Bui Thi Them, Mrs. Do Thi Phuc, Mrs. Doan Thi Nghiep, etc. The most impressive is the jackfuit wood statue of Heroic mother Nguyen Thi Ranh who had 8 sons and 2 children who died in the Vietnam War.
1, 2, 3. Uncle Ho gold coin, drinking tankard, memory order of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thap; 4, 5: Diary and balance of Heroic mother Tran Quang Man; 6: Brooch of heroic mother Nguyen Thanh Tung 2.
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President Ho Chi Minh with Southern Vietnamese women
Statue of Ho Chi Minh President and children and a large-scale painting about Vietnamese women
The funeral of the South Vietnamese mourned Uncle Ho in 1969, books for women, Uncle Ho badge, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nguyen’s radio, Ao Dai of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huyen, the checkered scarf of Nguyen Thi Dinh – the first Vietnamese female General of People’s Army
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Southern Vietnamese women in the cause of building the nation
Percentage of female deputies of the National Assembly
Famous Vietnamese female artists, athletics, singers, poets
Among visitors, there are many foreign tourists. A foreign woman said, “Visiting the museum, I understand more about the Southern women, love and admire them more. In the war, they suffered a lot of pain and loss. However, they still bravely overcome difficulties for the peace of their country.”
Read more about Top 12 museums in Ho Chi Minh City
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