Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology () is a museum in Hanoi, Vietnam, which focuses on the 54 officially recognised ethnic groups in Vietnam. It is located on a property in the Cầu Giấy District, about 8 km from the city center. The Museum is a member of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences - an academic institution of the Vietnamese Government. A second exhibition building was open in 2013 and has a focus on Southeast Asian cultures and peoples. History. The proposal for the museum was officially approved on 14 December 1987. Construction lasted from 1987 to 1995 , and it was opened to the public on 12 November 1997. The budget for construction of the museum was US$1.9 million, with an additional US$285,000 allocated for acquisition of artifacts. The exhibition building was designed by the architect Ha Duc Linh, a member of the Tày ethnic group, in the shape of a Đông Sơn drum, and the interior architecture was designed by the French architect Véronique Dollfus. The second exhibition building focusing on Southeast Asian ethnology was designed in a kite shape and was open in 2013.