The Việt Nam Museum of Ethnology was officially opened to the public in November 1997 by French President Jacques Chirac when Việt Nam hosted the Conference of Francophone Nations. Located in Cầu Giáy District on the western outskirts of Hà Nội, the museum covers an area of nearly 3.3 hectares. It was designed in the form of an ancient Đông Sơn drum by Hà Đức Linh, an architect of the Tày ethnic minority, with interior decorations by French architect Véronique Dollfus. Being part of the National Centre of Social Sciences and Humanities, the museum is involved in a wide range of different undertakings. It collects, classifies, assesses, preserves, restores and displays artefacts relating to Việt Nam’s 54 different ethnic groups, carries out scientific research on Vietnamese nationalities and trains staff in ethnographic museology. The museum also attaches attention to the cultures of other countries in South East Asia, seeing them as potential targets for future exhibitions at the museum. Since its foundation the museum has developed a rich and diverse collection of more than 15,000 objects, 40,000 photographs and many audio-visual tapes. Most of the interior space of the two-storey museum building is reserved for permanent displays of objects and documents related to the culture and lifestyle of the ethnic minority communities. Dioramas are arranged by geographical location and language and comprise nine interlinked areas: An introduction to Việt Nam’s ethnic groups; the Việt (Kinh); the Việt-Mường (Mường, Thổ and Chứt); the Thái-Kadai, including eight groups of the Tày-Thái (Tày, Thái, Nùng, Sán Chay, Giáy, Lào, Lừ and Bố Y) and four groups of the Kadai (La Chí, Cờ Lao, La Ha and Pu Péo); the H'mông-Dao (H'mông, Dao and Pà Thẻn); the Tibeto-Burmese (Hà Nhì, Phù Lá, La Hủ, Lô Lô, Cống and Si La); the Sino-Tibetan (Hoa, Sán Dìu and Ngái); the Môn-Khmers of the North (Khơ-mú, Kháng, Mảng and Xinh-mun), the Trường Sơn Range and the Central Highlands (Ba-na, Xơ-đăng, Hrê, Cơ-ho, M’nông, Xtiêng, Bru-Vân Kiều, Cơ-tu, Gié-Triêng, Ta-ôi, Mạ, Co, Chơ-ro, Rơ-măm, Brâu and Ơ-đu); the Austronesians of the mountainous regions (Chu-ru, Ê-đê, Gia-rai, Ra-glai); the Chăm, Khmer and Hoa; and Interaction between different groups, expressed through highland markets. In these nine areas some 650 objects are displayed in 100 showcases, large and small, with captions giving the name, the place and the producer of the object. There are 33 panels with more than 50 articles and nearly 300 photographs introducing the groups' cultural characteristics. In addition, there are showcases about some other unique cultural identities or customs, such as nón (palm-leaf conical hat)-making, funeral rituals of the Mường, the buffalo-stabbing ceremony of the Ba-na, and various ritual ceremonies, all illustrated by video films. The museum also hosts various temporary exhibitions. The open area at the rear of the museum features traditional architectures typical of various different locations, including a Gia-rai burial ground, a H'mông house built directly on the ground, a mixed stilt-and-ground house of the Dao, a stilted Tày house, a traditionally-shaped Việt house, a long stilt-house of the matriarchal Ê-đê, plus the latest additions, traditional houses of the Hà Nhì, Ba-na and Chăm people. In each structure there are captions about the materials, tools and techniques with which the original ethnic builders were invited by the museum to build the house. The ethnic builders also participated in introducing information about their products and the cultural traditions of their group. Each house is set up as a mini-museum. The Việt Nam Museum of Ethnology stages folk art performances and handicraft demonstrations on a regular basis and issues a range of publications, including the Museum Catalogue (1997), Pictures of Vietnamese Nationalities (1997), The Great Family of Vietnamese Nationalities (1998), Ancient Designs of Đắc Lắc (1999), Research Projects by the Việt Nam Museum of Ethnology, Volume 1 (1999) and Our Craft Traditions: A Yao Community in Sapa, Vietnam (2001). In 2002 the Museum joined with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City to organise a major ethnographical exhibition introducing the people of Việt Nam and their way of life to Americans.