Published:  00:00 Tuesday - September 15, 2009

An exhibition of ancient Vietnamese art, called “From River Plain to Open Sea”, opened at the Fine Arts Museum in Houston, Texas on September 15.

On display are over 120 ancient artifacts from famous civilisations like Dong Son, Sa Huynh, Phu Nam, Cham Pa and from the Tran and Le dynasties including ritual bronzes, fine gold jewelry, terra cotta burial wares, Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, and ornaments made of gold, lapis lazuli and crystal.

The artifacts, some of which date back to the first millennium B.C., are on loan from leading Vietnamese museums.

According to John Nguyen, a museum official, the exhibition gives Vietnamese–American kids a good opportunity to learn more about their home country.

The exhibition is designed to introduce ancient Vietnamese culture and draw comparisons between Vietnamese artifacts and Indian, Chinese, South Korean, and Cambodian artifacts at the museum.

The exhibition, co-organized by The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and the Asia Society in New York, will last until January 3, 2010.