Danang Fine Arts Museum is a large public gallery dedicated to Vietnamese art. It opened in 2014 and has been impressively well maintained ever since.
- Opening hours: 08:00 to 17:00 (Daily)
- Entrance fee: 20,000 VND
About Danang Fine Arts Museum
You need at least an hour to see everything at Da Nang Fine Art Museum. It’s a pleasant place to spend time because the whole museum is fully air-conditioned and very quiet. The museum never appears to get particularly busy, attracting primarily young Vietnamese adults and a small but steady stream of foreign visitors.
Museum Building
Danang Fine Arts Museum is housed within what was formerly Danang History Museum. The design of building, particularly the use of large cast concrete blocks, is reminiscent of the architecture of 1960’s Russia during the Soviet era, and other important public buildings in Vietnam, such as the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi.
Entrance to Da Nang Fine Art MuseumDanang Fine Arts Museum has 1,185 square metres of gallery space across three levels. The museum has around 1,000 pieces of art on display at any given time displayed in 10 separate sections.
Bronze Relief in the foyer of Da Nang Fine Arts MuseumAnother impressive feature of Danang Fine Arts Museum is how clean, well maintained and well presented the entire facility is. As you enter the gallery the first thing you see in a 5 metre by 3 metre brass relief with imagery relevant to Da Nang. There is also a staffed information desk and free to use lockers for your bags. The lockers will be useful for anyone visiting whilst waiting to board a train at nearby Da Nang Railway Station.
Level One
Level One of Danang Fine Arts Museum has two sections. The largest section is dedicated to modern Vietnamese art.
Modern art section of Da Nang Fine Arts MuseumSculptures and reliefs feature heavily alongside paintings. Much of the art is abstract, although the themes are more familiar relating to Da Nang, Hanoi and other parts of the country, as well Vietnam’s many years of conflict.
Vietnamese art for local childrenThe second small section of Level One of Danang Fine Arts Museum is dedicated to art by, or for, children. This part of the gallery also contains a room for use by children in creating art.
Level Two
Level Two of Danang Fine Arts Museum contains 5 sections which the museum describes as follows:
- Oil paintings – Sculptures
- Lacquer paintings – Sculptures
- Silk paintings – Sculptures
- Graphic art paintings – Sculptures
- Revolutionary war theme
Powerful ideas expressed in the medium of small sculpturesMost of the items fall into what would normally be classed as ‘modern art’. What makes the art so unusual and interesting is the art relates specifically to Vietnamese history and culture. It’s difficult to find examples of this type of Vietnam focused genre of art outside of Vietnam.
Abstract sculpture and oil paintingsThe long war which Vietnam fought for independence against the French, then the Japanese, and then against the United states of America is a prominent theme in the art on Level Two. It isn’t, however, the only theme. A lot of the art work also focuses on themes related to national identity. Vietnam is a country with many ethnic groups, languages and cultural traditions. Differences between those ethnic and cultural groups are highlighted and celebrated in this gallery through the medium of painting and sculpture.
Level Three
Level Three of Danang Fine Arts Museum has three sections. This gallery contains the most eclectic range of art work and it’s hard to discern the reason for which these items were grouped together, except for their being generally the most impressive pieces on display in the museum.
19th Century bronze sculpture displayed in Da Nang Fine Arts MuseumThe museum describes the three sections of Level Three as follows:
- Exhibition space of artist Le Cong Thanh’s artworks
- Exhibition space of “Houiei” collection donated by Mr Toyokichi Itoh
- Space for traditional fold art, applied art
Sculptures and photographs of the Co Tu people in VietnamProbably the most interesting items on Level Three are the older artworks, some of which are centuries old, and the paintings and sculptures related to Vietnam’s many different ethnic groups, some of whom still live in remote locations practicing very old traditions. Of particular note in this respect is the fine collection of tribal masks and the sculptures paired with illustrative photographs of traditional village life.
Location of Danang Fine Arts Museum.
The Danang Fine Arts Museum is located 1.1 km walking distance from Da Nang Railway Station.
