In the national cultural heritage treasure, antiquities are considered a special type of cultural heritage thanks to the crystallization of historical, cultural, ideological, technical and artistic values of each historical period. In addition to its use value, antiquities also carry a mission of exchange, economic connection, and East-West civilization. Perhaps that is why antiques always evoke many emotions and thoughts in viewers when contemplating.

Mr. Bach Loc keeps the antiques as a treasure in his home space. Photo: D.H.L

With a long history of culture, the movement of collecting antiques in Da Nang over recent years has developed quite strongly and many antiquities collection and research associations have been set up, thereby contributing to protecting and promoting the country’s cultural heritage.

Understanding more about culture from passion for antiquities

On weekends, the Lam Kieu café on Han Thuyen Street, Hai Chau District, Da Nang becomes bustling when there are antique collectors of the Lam Kieu Antiquities Association engaging in experience exchanges. Mr. Huynh Quoc Viet, 43, the owner of Lam Kieu café, also one of the founders of the namesake association, said that the Lam Kieu Antiquities Association currently has about 11 members.

In addition to weekend activities at the café, the association sometimes organises exchanges with antique collectors in the neighbouring provinces of Quang Nam and Thua Thien Hue.

Not only offering accommodation for the association’s members, Lam Kieu also displays nearly 200 antiques and ceramics from Viet Nam and China. These are precious antiques that Viet has collected over the past 13 years and carefully preserved in his cupboard as treasures.

Recalling the early days of collecting antiques, Viet said that, during a visit to his brother's house in Sa Huynh in the central coastal province of Quang Ngai, he by chance sees a batch of very beautiful porcelain bowls that had just been found on the seabed. Since then, he spent time learning more about Chinese ceramics, and then gradually studied more about Vietnamese ceramics.

“Besides the variety of types, ceramics have very unique designs and textures that make pottery players very interested. However, when learning about Vietnamese pottery, I learned that Chu Dau pottery from the northern province of Hai Duong is also very beautiful and loved by friends around the world. Currently, Vietnamese ceramics have been displayed in many foreign museums such as the U.S., Japan and Middle Eastern countries and Europe. My passion for antiquities has given me more useful knowledge about Vietnamese and Chinese culture through each historical period”, Viet emphasized.

In order to possess hundreds of precious ceramics like today, Mr. Viet went to Hoi An in the neighbouring province of Quang Nam to collect them. In the 1997 - 2000, people recovered many ceramic artifacts from the sea, which was an opportunity for him to add them to his collection of rare antiques. In particular, with antique toys, the more exposure, the more understanding is enhanced.

“In the past, in order to see an antique, players had to go all the way to antique streets or the collectors’ houses, now they can just admire them online. However, the fact that there are many people playing antiques makes the situation of fake goods appear more and more sophisticated, if there is not enough knowledge, it is difficult to recognise what is real and fake. When I first started playing, I was also mistakenly bought fake antiques and considered it a lesson for myself. However, the benefits of collecting antiques are great. In addition to increasing our income in exchange and trade, we also understand more about the rich cultural history of our ancestors, especially the cultural imprints through the periods," Viet confided.

Compared with young people, senior antiques players like Mr. Bach Loc, the head of the Da Thanh Antiquities Association, have more experience. With more than 35 years of experience in collecting antiques, he can recognise the age and value of antiques with the naked eye.

Loc said: "To identify antiques is only based on archaeological experience, but using scientific methods is very expensive. Therefore, young people need to promote exchanges with longtime researchers and collectors through meetings. Through playing with antiquities, we can see the effort and wisdom of our forefathers to make a product by hand, how skillful and wonderful it is, especially the carving patterns on each antique”.

Thanks to his job as an archeologist, Loc has had a predestined relationship with collecting antiques since the early 80s and has now owned thousands of antiques from small to large sizes over many generations, from the Le and Ly dynasties to war memorabilia in the 1963 – 1975 period and those dating back to the subsidy period...

In a small house on Thanh Duyen Street, Loc's living space became a ‘paradise’ for antiques. The precious antiques are divided by historical period and carefully stored, including antiques dating back hundreds of years such as betel nuts, wine pots, tea pots owned by feudal mandarins, or makeup powder boxs, wine jars, fish sauce jars and copper pot sets of many sizes.

“In need of a healthy playground!

According to the Da Nang Department of Culture and Sports, the city currently has the Han River Cultural Heritage Chapter and the Da Thanh Antiquities Chapter under the Da Nang Cultural Heritage Association, which gathers many private collectors. There is also the Lam Kieu Antiquities Association.

Private collectors are the ‘extended arms’ that contribute to the cultural sector to preserve the precious heritage left by their ancestors. However, in order to preserve and promote the value of this special cultural heritage, it is necessary to have a healthy playground for antique collectors to exchange and learn from one another.

In July, at the exhibition ‘Collection of antiquities of Da Nang people for the third time’, Lam Kieu Antiquities Association called on its members to participate in donating antiques and ceramics from Viet Nam from the 15^th to 19^th centuries for the Museum of Da Nang for more professional display and research.

Also at this exhibition, the Museum of Da Nang introduces to the public 70 typical and selected artifacts from collectors including many different types and materials that dated to the 15^th century to the Nguyen Dynasty such as the collection of furniture from the Nguyen Dynasty at the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century by collector Ho Anh Tuan, Chu Dau ceramics dating from the 16^th to 17^th centuries by Truong Hoai Tuyen, the set of Chinese ceramics from the 18^th to 19^th centuries by Pham Phu Khanh, antique coins from by Le Phuoc Quang…

Some private collectors selected a number of artifacts from their collections for voluntary donations to the Museum of Da Nang in order to enrich the display content and restore better service for domestic and foreign visitors.

In his point of views on the role of antiquities, Mr. Huynh Dinh Quoc Thien, the Director of the Museum of Da Nang said that, every year on Viet Nam Cultural Heritage Day (November 23), the museum organizes meetings to introduce the Da Nang people’s antique collecting hobby every two years.

On this occasion, the museum calls on antique collectors to donate artifacts and show gratitude to those who have made their contributions to the museum. At the recent ‘The Collection of Antiquities of the Da Nang People” exhibition, antique collectors donated 40 valuable antiques of various historical periods to the museum. It can be said that the artifacts presented by collectors are sacred messages from the past, a call to remind us to continue in the cause of preserving and promoting the great values of cultural heritage.

Currently, Hoang Hoa Tham Street in the capital city of Ha Noi and Le Cong Kieu Street in Ho Chi Minh City are famous places for collectors to gather, exchange, and buy and sell antiques as well.

Meanwhile, antique collectors and lovers in Da Nang can only go to each other's houses or meet at coffee shops for exchanges. In the long run, antique collectors still want the local government to create conditions for Da Nang to set up an antique street to keep the dear memories of the city's people and turn it into a tourist attraction for locals and those coming to this beautiful coastal city.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by A.THU