These days many eyes are on the Hoang Sa Exhibition House in Da Nang. The venue is home to historical documents, objects and images on Viet Nam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Archipelago.

Covering an area of 1,248m², the 4-storey house costs over 43 billion VND which came from the city’s budget. Work started on the site on 7 December 2015.

An architectural design, called ‘Viet Nam’s Sovereign Seal’, was chosen through a contest for the house. It was created by a group of 3 architects from Japan’s Wright Architecture Company - Fuminori Minakami from Japan, and Viet Nam's Tran Quoc Thanh and Nguyen Huy Quang.

According to Mr Dang Cong Ngu, the former Chairman of the Hoang Sa Islands District People’s Committee given that Hoang Sa Archipelago is being occupied, the exhibition house is expected to inspire Vietnamese people to continue fighting for national sovereignty over the islands.

Its central area features a replica of Hoang Sa Archipelago’s sovereignty column, which was built in 1938 by the French. The column reaches from the first floor to the third floor.

On display at this house are a total of about 300 documents and artifacts grouped according to themes: the geographical position and natural conditions of the Hoang Sa Archipelago, Hoang Sa in old Vietnamese bibliographies issued before, and during the feudal Nguyen Dynasty over the 1802 - 1945 period, evidence about Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the archipelago during the 1945 - 1974 period, and the period from 1974 until now.

Mr Tran Duc Anh Son, the Deputy Director of Institute for Socio-Economic Development in Da Nang, said “I even found a valuable document in Harvard University. The 200-page book under Qianlong dynasty affirms that Hainan Island is China’s southernmost point”.

Besides historical documents, various artifacts are also displayed here, such as belongings of the first naval soldiers to Hoang Sa archipelago and a 100m² Vietnamese flag made by an 80-year-old woman, which was presented to Hoang Sa island district in 2010. The exhibits have brought Hoang Sa closer to Vietnamese hearts.

Le Thi Nhat Linh, a pupil from the Hoang Sa Junior High School told reporters: "When visiting the exhibition centre, I can acquire lots of knowledge on national sovereignty which I used to read only in books."

While Le Tran Kim Anh, another pupil from the school said: "We will do our best to promote the centre to our friends so they can have a better insight into the archipelago whose name is acquired by our school."

The venue is expected to raise awareness among people, especially youths, on Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the two archipelagos, Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, and the importance of protecting the national sea and islands.

(Source: VNA)