2. Inconsistency between Champa culture

2. Inconsistency between Champa culture and other rooms in the museum

Inconsistency in displacement themes compared to the rooms of historic Vietnam dynasties part:

There is no denying that white is a sustainable trend of modern art galleries, representing cleanliness, simplicity, and solemnity. The inner walls of these structures are painted white to create an atmosphere that appears to be "neutral". Additionally, the high contrast between a white background and the displayed objects helps elevate what needs to be focused on.

As an exhibiting room of the aesthetically Champa culture, this Champa room also echoes the same patterns. However, modern museums of history would do differently, and so do Buddhist temples or Champa heritage across Vietnam.

According to their signature characteristics, these institutions tend to choose theme colors that are noticeable, and complementary to evoke either educational or religious purposes.

According to their signature characteristics, these institutions tend to choose theme colors that are noticeable, and complementary to evoke either educational or religious purposes. For instance, the rooms of Vietnamese dynasties use primary colors such as red, blue, and yellow walls whereas secondary components (such as panels, and signages) are covered with lighter colors such as grey, light green, or white.

Similarly, the walls, ceilings, and columns in the Buddhism room are painted in deeper hues like dark grey and saturated red.

Not only are the Champa culture room and other history and religion rooms different in theme color, but they also have distinguished storytelling. The Vietnam history part broadly mentions every detailed information a dynasty might have (from the historical timeline, architecture, and religions, to even the remarkable heroes of the era).

Nevertheless, the Champa room is only curated as an exhibition of an important component of "Vietnam's cultural legacy" with an outstanding artistic and cultural appeal, let alone its significant contribution to the solid growth of Dai Viet or the relationship between the Cham ethnic communities of today and the Champa past. The museum simply exhibits an ethnographic collection of costumes and other items in the room dedicated to South Vietnam's ethnic groups. Although the Cham are depicted in the cultural artifacts, there is no historical relationship to the ancient Champa civilization.

Such an inconsistency isolates the Champa culture room from the rest of the museum, or to be exact from the overall historical narrative in Ho Chi Minh City's national history museum. Yet, this is not simply a personal bias from any curators of the museum but rather a bigger problem in the official historiography of Vietnam that has existed as early as the 1950s. Vietnamese prejudice toward Champa was noted in studies published between 1950 and 1960, and the collapse of Champa was nevertheless portrayed as ‘becoming a part of the “great national family [of Dai Viet]”. It is not until recently does the conversation about Champa become more open, but it seems that there still needs to be more proactive actions to repair this nationalist narrative of Champa in mostly every national history of Vietnam museum, especially the National Museum of History in Ho Chi Minh City. The HCMC Museum of History should focus on the historical aspect rather than either artfully presenting aesthetic ceramics and religious sculptures, which may certainly be accomplished by other art museums, or ignoring the lost history of Champa and any relations it might have had with the official historiography of Vietnam dynasties.