Treasures of the Ascending Dragon

In addition to highlighting the history of humanity since prehistoric times, the Landesmuseum Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) – Museum of Archaeology in Herne also presents special exhibitions on current issues of general interest on a regular basis.

In cooperation with the Haus der Archäologie und Geschichte in Chemnitz and the Reiss Engelhorn Museums in Mannheim, the LWL developed an extensive special exhibition on 2,000 years of Vietnam’s cultural history – starting with the early nationhood of the Dong Son culture to the consolidation of Vietnamese power in the 15th century. The fellow from Vietnam helped the museum work closely with Vietnamese institutions and archaeologists. Vietnamese archaeology has made such great strides in recent years that the majority of research is conducted on location, but because of the language barrier, very little is known about it beyond Vietnam.

The fellow possessed scientific understanding of the current archaeological developments in Vietnam. He functioned as an intermediary between the planning team in Germany and the Vietnamese partners, and ensured that the exhibition reflects the Vietnamese interpretations concerning the topic. The fellow was closely involved with all aspects of the project – developing the detailed concept, organizing the loan transactions, designing the exhibition, and producing a catalogue. He reported on his experiences to the public in an accompanying lecture series.