National Museum of Vietnamese History (or, 'and now for something completely different')

So it turns out I lied. The British Museum last September wasn't the first time that I fell in love with a national museum and its architecture. Upon further consideration, I realised that happened last July, when I travelled to visit family in Vietnam and I took a trip to the National Museum of Vietnamese History in Hanoi.

I only took a few pictures myself, so will supplement them with ones I have found on the internet.

The first noteworthy thing about my trip to this museum was the rain. I'm from Newcastle so am used to a bit of rain, but the rainy season in Vietnam is something else, and it just so happened that the day I visited the museum was during a period of particularly impressive downfall. Hence why all the pictures I took outside look a bit soggy.

The second thing is the building itself. The museum is an extremely aesthetically pleasing mix of Vietnamese and French colonial architecture. According to Wikipedia, what you get when you mix these two elements is called 'Indochina architecture', and this particular example was completed in 1932. From the outside, it looks a bit like this:

Here it is looking a bit sunnier. Image from http://fvheritage.org/events/museums/

Dotted all around the grounds are little statues, shrines and memorial stone things.

The whole of the nearby outside section was also paved with some pretty patterned tiles, which I liked.

Inside the museum, it's all light blue, and generally continued the colonial feeling you got from the outside. I did warn you my photos were nothing to shout about.

On each floor, off this main staircase area, there were several galleries, from what I can remember organised relatively chronologically.
There's a nice picture of one of the galleries here, courtesy of Naveen Shunmuganathan on Flickr.

The final thing I want to briefly mention is how taken aback I was by the actual contents of the museum.
It was jam packed with artefacts from pretty much every period of Vietnamese history, from prehistoric times until relatively recently. Although there weren't detailed English descriptions in many cases, the objects inside were fascinating - I know NOTHING about Vietnamese history with the exception of what my 'The US in Vietnam' AS level history module covered, so it was quite startling and humbling to see the amazing feats of artistic endeavour that they were up to when in England we were all fussing about in the mud during the Wars of the Roses. I remember that I made this particular comparison based on a remarkable piece of wood carving - it also has something to do with the fact I'd just sat an exam on Britain from 1330-1550, and really wasn't a big fan of the Wars of the Roses at that point.

So there you go! If you ever find yourself in Hanoi, I would definitely recommend tearing yourself away from your bowl of Pho and negotiating the intimidating scooter-filled streets to pay a visit to the National Museum of Vietnamese History. And hopefully you will come away with some better pictures than the ones I took.

The Ashmolean - a taster

I've been meaning to post about the Ashmolean for a very long time, but haven't got round to it due to various issues related to having work/being a massive procrastinator. Unfortunately this post is not me 'getting round to it', as I'm still caught up in my last couple of days in Oxford before heading home for Christmas, and want to make sure that when I do actually do a post on the Ashmolean, it gives the museum the attention it deserves as it's one of my favourites! However I couldn't resist sharing these two photos I took on a recent post-tute trip to the museum a month or so again. Incredibly edited on afterlight and in my view really lacking the Instagram appreciation they deserve, behold the beauty of museum architecture! 

The nerdiest date ever - Museum Architecture lecture at the Ashmolean

So as I mentioned in my last post, yesterday I went on what I am calling 'the nerdiest date ever' when my boyfriend and I went to a talk by Dr Suzanne MacLeod, head of the department of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester on the topic of 'Museum Architecture', which was taking place at the Ashmolean.

So I'm not going to lie, the talk wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. Last year I went to an incredibly interesting talk by Professor Christopher Brown, Director of the Ashmolean Museum about the 'New Ashmolean' project, where he talked a lot about the architecture and layout of the new museum, and how this was conceived in relation to both the remaining old parts of the museum, and the collection itself. Dr McLeod's lecture wasn't really like this. Instead, she took as a case study the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool (to which I have never been. In fact, I've never even been to Liverpool…), and talked a lot about the context in which it was conceived and constructed in the 19th century, with passing mentions to how this relates to the design and form of the building itself. Despite the fact this wasn't at all what I was expecting, it turned out to be really interesting!

I won't bore you with the details, but here are some things that she said that stand out in my notes (yes, I took notes. I also had to do this in a scruffy school notebook as I've filled up my moleskine notebook and am not getting a new one until Christmas. Sob):

• Architecture is not an object - it's a physical museum embedded in a sensual world 
• In 19th century Liverpool, the creation of a sweep of civic buildings, of which the Walker Gallery was a part, were built in a very mixed, rather rough area of the city, and were meant to be a new entrance to the city and act as a way of providing cultured, moral entertainment to its inhabitants 
• The Walker Gallery has changed a lot since it was first built - extensions, lighting, and at one point after WW2 even being 'domesticated as social space' in line with Scandinavian ideas - this mostly involved shoving a plant, some sofas and a coffee table in the middle of a gallery. 
• There's an interesting contrast in the way that the press at the time focused on the conservative Grecian design of the museum, when it was actually being constructed in a controversial political context (most of which arose around the fact that Walker, who funded the construction of the museum, basically as a private project, had made his fortune in the alcohol industry, which upset people in the temperance movement. The fact that Walker was a conservative with no real interest in art other than as a way for him to advance politically within the town/country also upset some people, especially liberals who'd championed the cause of a gallery in the city from the start, but just couldn't get enough money and support).
• The building's eventual physicality was 'a space for the negotiation of political tensions and mediation of divides in Liverpool'. Numerous images of the gallery produced by different parties - most notably a set of amusing cartoons produced by some tee totalers - show the various interpretations it was given. Many groups were attempting to fix a particular meaning to the building. However, what won out in the end was an official image of civc worth associated with the parades and celebrations that accompanied the opening of the Gallery 

So there you go! It turns out that museum architecture is about a lot more than just pictures of pretty ceilings and galleries. The history of museums is something I've only ever really thought off briefly, and it turns out it's quite interesting! Although not at all how I imagined spending my Saturday morning, the lecture really made me think, and I definitely am keen on finding out more about the political and cultural contexts in which some of my favourite museums were conceived and constructed - although when I'll have time to do that is anyone's guess. Maybe a resolution for 2014...

The Victoria and Albert Museum

Subsequent to my post of a couple of days ago, I am pleased to say that my trip to London yesterday did in fact result in a museum trip. However, we didn't go back to the British Museum, instead heading to South Kensington to the Victoria and Albert. It wasn't even my idea! Just one of the many many reasons my boyfriend is perfect (vom).

Anyway, the V&A definitely didn't disappoint! I've never ever been before, and the only thing I was really excited about was seeing the Veroli Casket (a 10th century Byzantine ivory casket with an extremely interesting decorative programme that I studied as part of my special subject this term) so had no idea what to expect, but the galleries were pretty impressive!

Even the outside is beautiful!
We were lucky that we were visiting close enough to Christmas to see the amazing decorations that they had up in the entrance halls. They were made of glass and lights, and were incredibly striking.

 

Just when you thought amazing ceilings couldn't get any better!

The rest of the galleries continued to satisfy my love of good ceilings and nice layouts. A special shout out has to go to the bizarre but brilliantly impressive jewellery gallery, which unfortunately I wasn't able to take pictures (and was sternly told as such by the guard when I tried, oops), but pictures and information can be found on the museum website here. It's totally unlike any museum gallery I've ever seen before, and I was totally overwhelmed!

Here are some of the highlights, but if at all possible you should take a day to visit the museum yourself and just wander round. 

Museums that incorporate architectural pieces into their layout are always a favourite. 

One of the medieval galleries, in a newer part of the museum. Note the beautiful stained glass on the left! 

We passed through this large hall early in our visit - they've actually taken a part of a church
 (from Italy?) and plonked it at the end of a huge hall. Pretty cool. 

This is what you see when you turn around from the previous photo. Ahh. 

Metalwork gallery. The V&A has a layout that sees rooms focus on particular artistic
techniques and materials, which is an interesting way of classifying some of their
 collections

I really liked this part of the museum - they've taken bits of medieval buildings that
survived in London until the 19th century, and have preserved them from getting
destroyed. They have an awesome 17th century, pre-Great Fire house front, which I
foolishly didn't get a photo of. It's also totally different to the rest of the museum, and
almost feels like you're in some London street a few hundred years ago at times!

This long gallery (the one with the aforementioned chapel at the end) sort of reminded
me of the long main hall at the Musee d'Orsay. It was also interesting to compare the
way that sculpture was displayed here with how they were done in Berlin at the Bode.
I thought the two museum had quite a few similarities (although my boyfriend
disagreed…), particularly in the rooms with giant triptychs and with architectural
features built into the museums. Although I haven't been to many museums with a lot
of galleries devoted to sculpture, so maybe that's just how it's done everywhere?
Who knows!

This is just here because I thought 'silver discovery area' was quite cute. Humour me. 

The next part of the post is devoted to one of THE coolest museum galleries/areas I have ever visited in my life (no over exaggeration). The museum's cast gallery has been taking casts of important pieces of sculpture since the 19th century, and is one of the world's foremost collections - they've got casts of some pieces that have since been damaged or decayed, so they're an important record of what monuments were like a couple of hundred years ago. But it's like a 'what's what of cool stonework across Europe', all in one place! It's so awesome, and is in such a lofty gallery, the scale is just phenomenal. I also got excited because alongside HUGE casts of Trajan's Column, metal casts of knights' tombs, and a large church door surround, there was a cast of an Anglo-Saxon stone cross from Hexham, Northumberland, my homeeee (sort of). It made me happy to think that something so close to home was worthy of being preserved alongside these amazing architectural and artistic masterpieces. I am easily pleased. 

In awe. 

The cast gallery is actually currently under some conservation and restoration work, so I am incredibly excited to come back and see it when it's all done and possibly even better!

Finally, about half way through our visit, we got a bit peckish and decided to go to the cafe. Little did we know how beautiful it would be! 

Just the combination of the tiles and the stained glass and the lighting together was so perfect! It definitely made up for the hideously overpriced drinks that we bought. 

Anyway, that's my round up of the V&A. Although I'm the first to admit I'm really not into art, the sculptural collections, the medieval galleries as well as the sheer amount and variety of STUFF in the museum made it definitely worth a visit, and that's without the added bonus of the amazingly impressive museum architecture itself! I'll definitely be coming back.

In other news, I took some photos on black and white film of the day that I will post when/if I get round to using the rest of the film up and then developing the roll. I'm also going to a talk this Saturday about Museum Architecture, which I am very excited about (especially because my boyfriend is willing to come with me. Have I mentioned he's wonderful?). I'm a bit worried that it'll just make me want to travel the world and see even more museums though, which my bank balance and time constraints probably will not agree with…but it should be good! 

This is also probably my last museum visit of 2013, so here's to 2014 and many more museum adventures! 

indulge me while I go off topic

I promise I will get back to posting pictures of pretty museums soon! I'm off to London tomorrow, so who knows, I might end up at the British Museum again! Here's hoping (although it's my boyfriend's birthday so we may have to go where he wants to go, which I fear will not be to trawl round galleries he's already been forced to walk around twice...).

Anyway I'm currently in the middle of reading for my Extended Essay, which is on what archaeology can tell us about 10th century Byzantium, and is scary because it's he first piece of work that actually counts towards my final degree mark. Anyway I was working in the Sackler library, and I noticed that they had a trolley near the entrance marked 'duplicates, free books, merry Xmas!'. Cute. Most of their offerings were obscure foreign language archaeology journals, however between them I found THIS 

It's a guide to the Fitzwilliam Museum, from 1954. Inside it has a historical introduction, information on the galleries and departments, and a floor plan: 

Excuse the bad photo.

So whilst I fear it will be completely useless if I were to use it as a guide to the museum today, it's a pretty cool piece of museum history to have, especially considering I picked it up for free! At home I have an early 20th century guide and plan of Corbridge Roman Site that I picked up completely by chance in the Oxford branch of Oxfam books on St Giles, so perhaps this can be the second part of a future collection! A museum of museum guides...or something. 

2013 in museums.

I was procrastinating the other day, and decided to make a list of all the museums and galleries that I have visited over the course of 2013. I was quietly ambitious, hoping that I'd manage to reach an average of one every week, so fifty two in total. Whilst I didn't reach that total (I managed forty four), I thought I'd share the list anyway, if only to document it more permanent form before I inevitably lose the piece of paper that it's currently scribbled on.

I haven't included churches, or castles that didn't have some sort of museum display/exhibition inside them somewhere!

Museum suggestions always appreciated!

England 

1. Corbridge Roman Site Museum, Northumberland.
2. Chesters Roman Fort and Museum, Northumberland
3. Housesteads Roman Fort and Museum, Northumberland
4. Vindolanda Roman Fort and Museum, Northumberland
5. Bede's World, Jarrow
6. The Baltic Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
7. The Great North Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne
8. The National Railway Museum, York
9. The Yorkshire Museum, York
10. The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
11. Museum of Natural History, Oxford
12. The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
13. The Museum of Oxford, Oxford
14. The National Portrait Gallery, London
15. The British Museum, London
16. The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
17. The Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge
18. Lindisfarne Priory Museum, Northumberland
19. Palace Green Library, Durham
20. Bodleian Library Museum, Oxford
21. Christ Church Picture Gallery, Oxford

France 

22. Musee d'Orsay, Paris
23. Cluny Museum, Paris
24. Chateau de Duras, Duras
25. Coin Museum, Duras

Germany

26. Bode Museum, Berlin
27. Pergamon Museum, Berlin
28. Altes Museum, Berlin
29. Neus Museum, Berlin
30. Humboldt Box, Berlin
31. Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin
32. Gemaldegalerie, Berlin
33. Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin
34. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Berlin
35. Jewish Museum, Berlin
36. Castle Museum/Green Vault, Dresden
37. German Historical Museum, Berlin
38. Citadel, Spandau
39. Peacock Island, Wannsee
40. House of the Wannsee Conference, Wannsee
41. Martin Luther's House, Lutherstadt-Wittenberg
42. Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam
43. Schloss Cecilienhof, Potsdam
44. Tranenpalast, Friedrichstrasse, Berlin

The end!