VietNamNet Bridge – The fifth floor of the Viet Nam Women's Museum (WWM) in Ha Noi was full of visitors including high-profile officials, as the exhibition Windows by painter Duong Thuy Lieu opened recently.

Anyone's guess: An artwork featured in the ongoing Windows exhibition by painter Duong Thuy Lieu, the opening event of the MAM-Art Projects. — Photo womenmuseum.org.vn

The exhibition inaugurates the city's new contemporary art centre, known as MAM-Art Projects, which occupies the whole fifth floor of the WWM.

"The museum is gender-focused. However, during the era of integration we can't just feature women's traditional issues," said the museums head Nguyen Thi Bich Van.

"We need to focus on contemporary issues. That's why the centre has been set up to meet visitors' demands."

As a result of the co-operation between the Menifique Art Museum and the WWM, the MAM-Art Projects target anything that is new and serves modern-day life. It's considered the forerunner for any future museum of the contemporary arts.

"This artistic project in Ha Noi has to mean something special to us all," said the director of the MAM – Art Projects, Lourdes Fernandez.

"It's the beginning of a long-term project to connect Vietnamese contemporary art with the international art world.

"Art is the way we look at our own reality. This project will be a testimony in the future to show how Viet Nam is open to the world and how this potential will develop young artists in this country."

Lieu's exhibition is the first of the four the centre will open to the public over the 2013-14 period.

"To start with a great exhibition of paintings by a woman like Duong Thuy Lieu is even more challenging. It will be the first exhibition that shows how art changes our lives as our lives are changed by art," added Fernandez.

As contemporary art museums are not uncommon in the world, the MAM-Art Projects comes to life, raising hope that contemporary art can find a place in museums.

"The centre will help enrich the nation's culture and art scene and open new windows and new horizons that will help Vietnamese artists create and integrate internationally," said Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh at the event.

"It also enriches the museum's exhibitions and comes up to visitors' expectations."

In 2002, the Museum received a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, one of the biggest tourist promotion websites in the world. This is the second time the museum entered the list of the top 25 most attractive museums in Asia.

Source: VNS