After the Reunification Palace, we decided to go to the famous Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre. We knew that the shows is going to start in the evening. The price of the tickets are not cheap either.
It was kind of troublesome for us to go back there in the evening as we need to purposely take a cab to come here. Then, we decided not to watch the show, anyhow we took our family photo in front of the place for remembrance.
We continued our way to the Fine Arts Museum. Like many of the museums in Saigon, one of the best parts of visiting is to admire the structure its housed in.
The building that houses the museum was originally a mansion of a Chinese during colonial time and after - Mr. Hoa, the wealthiest man of Saigon at the time, who also owned other famous buildings in the city such as Majestic Hotel and Tu Du Hospital.
This yellow-white grand colonial-era mansion is a combination of French and Chinese styles which brings about a typical colonial feeling through its marble floors throughout and the spacious, airy rooms. It is no wonder that the building is considered as a masterpiece itself by most people.
As Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City and the country reunited, the building was reformed into a museum in 1987 as the result of a decision of the City’s People's Committee, though it was not officially opened until 1991.
The museum focuses on collecting, keeping, preserving and displaying fine artworks typical of Vietnamese people, especially Ho Chi Minh City and the South. It comprises three floors of exhibition space.
We started from the highest floor – 3rd Floor.
The 3rd floor holds a collection of historic arts ranging from 7th century to early 20th century, featuring Champa and earlier civilizations such as Oc Eo archaeological site in Mekong Delta.
The 2nd floor is where to store arts work – both paintings and sculptures of Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese artists.
Some leading Vietnamese artists of the last 50 years whose paintings are displayed there include: Trinh Cung, Do Quang Em, Diep Minh Chau and Nguyen Gia Tri.
The 1st floor is for domestic and international arts display.
We spent an hour browsing through the art exhibitions at this fantastic museum. There is a beautiful courtyard in the middle of the building where you can take a rest on a bench and just enjoy the peaceful quietness of the museum.
We took a selfie in front of the building itself and in front of the old elevator which is no more in function anymore. It is an antique elevator.
At first I was not extremely interested in visiting as I was kind of doubt of the fine arts that displayed over here, but I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. I was really amazed by the art appreciation level by the people of Saigon showed compared with us in Malaysia.
I thought the Fine Arts Museum was a hidden gem, and even if you just have 1 or 3 days in Saigon, I would recommend it as one of the top attractions in Ho Chi Minh City.
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