An exhibition of over 300 artefacts dating back six centuries opened at the Revolutionary History Museum in Thua Thien-Hue province on June 3 on the threshold of the 2010 Hue Festival.

The exhibits have been selected from over one million items fishermen had picked up from wreckages of merchant ships coming from China, Thailand and various parts of Vietnam that sunk off the nation’s shores during the 15^th -18^th centuries.

The artefacts were made of various materials ranging from ceramics to stone, wood and metals with China household utensils making up a majority.

The provincial Revolutionary History Museum Director, Cao Huy Hung, said scientists and antiques collectors would find valuable materials for their research and conservation work at the exhibition.

The exhibits would also satisfy curiosities of tourists, both foreign and local, about foreign trade on East Sea waters, Vietnam’s multi-lateral culture and the Silk Road on the East Sea in which Vietnam played an important role.

The exhibition was co-sponsored by the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum and the UNESCO Club.

On the same day, a painting exhibition themed “Quebec Colour” by Yanina Rock from Canada opened to greet the Hue festival, which is to kick off on June 5 to promote tourism and culture of the former imperial city of Hue.

Hue has been recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as the world’s cultural heritage site while its court music received the world body’s title “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.