Cultural experts have suggested setting up preservation and restoration centres for historical artefacts as many have been damaged due to lack of proper storage at museums.

Japanese Sumitomo Foundation helped restore a door which was nearly destroyed at Pho Minh Pagoda

Nguyen Van Cuong, director of the National Museum of Vietnamese History, said that even though none of the items had been broken beyond repair, a large number of them were damaged. 

He hopes Vietnam will be able to buy multi-million dollar trucks that are used in China which are capable of preserving the items immediately after they are discovered. In South Korea, they use special ships for excavating since many items are in good condition underwater but will be damaged after being exposed to air.

Pham Quoc Quan, former director of Vietnam Museum of Revolution, said that the mummies of monks Vu Khac Minh and Vu Khac Truong had been damaged and restoration would be costly. Thousands of items at Nghe An Museum were also at risk due to being stored improperly.

Quan said, "Many of the items are documents. There are new documents which are just some decades old but they have already been damaged. Items made of wood and fabric are largely damaged."

The Japanese Sumitomo Foundation which funds projects for the protection, preservation and restoration of cultural properties recently co-operated with the National Museum of Vietnamese History to restore a door which was nearly destroyed at Pho Minh Pagoda, a painting at Ham Long Pagoda and a 13th century Buddha statue from Japan.

He appreciated the help but he also pointed out that Vietnam couldn't depend on foreign help to save thousands of items forever.

Nguyen Van Cuong suggested setting up an emergency centre for artefact restoration. "In other countries, cultural heritage is well-preserved since each artefact is a mark from history, a message from the previous generations. Preservation at Vietnamese museums is very primitive," he said.

Cuong said he was researching on how to use Benzotriazole in preserving items from Dong Son Culture. 

The idea to set up restoration centres at three regions in Vietnam was raised years ago but nothing had been done. Vietnam Museum of Revolution once collaborated with Belgium experts to build a preservation room and saved many items but their human resources were limited.

Pham Quoc Quan said, "Many items have been damaged because the time was not right, we lacked funds and awareness about the importance of preservation. I hope the idea to set up restoration centres will be realised so we can see a breakthrough."

Cuong agreed that the most difficult problem is the operation cost of the restoration centres. "We have to classify the items more regularly and suitably and change the way the items are being stored," he said.

Tien Phong/Dtinews