Pride of place: Visitors look at objects exhibited at the Vietnam National Museum of History.

by Di Du

HA NOI (VNS)— The race to possess valuable antiques has become a battle between State-owned, private museums and antique collectors in Viet Nam, say those in charge of State-owned museums.

The high price of antiques and long time spent on administrative procedures have cost State-owned museums many chances to buy valuable antiques.

At a recent seminar, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Thi Bich Lien compared the business of antiques to that of drugs.

She said the two businesses were similarly profitable - and anti-social.

Having to compete with cashed-up and fast moving private collectors makes the task of gathering antiques for State museums extremely difficult.

Director of the Viet Nam Fine Arts Museum Phan Van Tien said that collecting old objects was easy in the years following the foundation of the museum in the 1930s.

The museum collected many good quality objects. But obtaining pieces today has become very difficult.

Many fine and ancient pieces are held in private museums and by individuals, including shopkeepers who sell Viet Nam's treasures to foreigners abroad.

The high price put on many of the valuable works by collectors makes buying them difficult for State museums which exist on small budgets.

Only rich collectors inside and outside the country could afford them, he said.

"More and more collectors are becoming richer and are ready to buy antiques at a high price. That's why many valuable antiques have been sold abroad," said Tien.

"Several Vietnamese paintings have been sold in Australia and Singapore at a price 30 to 50 times higher than the asking price in Viet Nam.

"For example, a silk painting by Nguyen Phan Chanh was recently auctioned for US$360,000. How can a State-owned museum afford this?

Eagle-eyed: A decorative ceramic sculpture found at the Thang Long Citadel archaeological site is on display at the Vietnam National Museum of History. — VNS Photos Doan Tung

"The lack of funds explains why State-owned museums like us often fail to buy such valuable artworks. It is a headache for us,"

Other museum directors also say that their offices suffer in the fierce race against collectors and private museums, due to the long administrative procedures imposed by the Government.

Nguyen Van Phong, deputy director of the Bac Giang Museum, recalled a rainy evening when he was told about the sale of a stilt house dating back to several hundred years. He rushed to the place where the house was.

"At first they decided to sell for VND30 million (US$1,500). I came back to my office to do administrative formalities to buy this house, but when I returned, they increased the price to VND60 million.

"It turned out that they met antiques collectors while I was doing administrative papers. Finally we agreed to buy the house at the higher price. But when we came back for the second time, they asked for VND120 million," Phong said.

Vietnamese law requires State-owned enterprises to seek permission from local authorities to buy objects worth more than VND100 million.

According to Tien, the buying process will be made even slower if the museum has to follow seven steps being proposed in a draft law about collecting antiques by State museums.

The steps include examining the object, gathering information on the objects, writing a [buying] proposal, submitting the proposal to concerned officials and then waiting for a decision.

The draft will go into effect in November this year.

Despite the difficulties, Deputy Minister Lien has reiterated that any museum that wants to buy old objects has to complete all the paper formalities.

"This is money from the State, which was gathered from tax contributed by citizens. If we want to spend money of the State, we have to obey the rules set by the Government," she said. — VNS