The Cham Museum in Danang is the
largest collection of Cham sculpture and artwork in the world. Whenever
visiting the museum, you still perceive an individual atmosphere particular to
this place, the reverie of reminiscences.
Situated in a quiet area of Da
Nang City, Cham Museum was built in 1915 according to the motifs of ancient
Cham Architecture. At first it was named the Henry Parmenties Museum. The
museum is officially known as the Museum of Champa Sculpture. The kingdom of
Champa (or Lin-yi in Chinese records) controlled what is now south and central
Vietnam from approximately 192 through 1697. The empire began to decline in the
late 15th century, became a Vietnamese vassal state in 1697, and was finally
dissolved in 1832. At present, the museum houses 297 stone and terracotta
sculptural works made between the 7th and the 15th centuries. These are
impressive works typical of the Cham culture.
A Brief History of the Champa
According to Chinese chronicles,
the Champa kingdom was founded in 192 A.D and had different names such as
Lin-Yi, Huang-Wang and Chang-Chen. Its territories stretched from south of the
Ngang Pass in Quang Binh Province to the delta area of the Dong Nai River in
Binh Thuan Province. It included the coastal plains, highland and mountain
ranges.
Influenced by the early Hindu
civilization, the Champa kingdom was a federation of several smaller states
called Mandala and comprised several ethnic groups.
The most important legacy of the
Champa kingdom is located in Central Vietnam in the form of brick temples and
towers which are scattered over the coastal lowlands and highlands. The
structures date from between the 7th and 8th centuries to the 16th and 17th
centuries and are concentrated in Quang Nam, Danang, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh
Thuan and Binh Thuan.
The most extensive collection of Cham art worldwide...
The Cham Museum was built in Cham
architectural style, using thin lines that are simple and gentle. The museum
displays an intensive and diverse collection of Champa sculpture dating from
the 7th to the 15th centuries, when a matriarchal society prevailed.
The museum was established at the
end of the 19th century by the Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient with a
collection of artifacts gathered in central Vietnam, from Quang Binh to Binh
Dinh. They were then displayed at Le Jardin de Tourane on a small hill by the
Han River. This is the site of the present museum. The building was designed by
two French architects, Delaval and Auclair, in imitation of the most commonly
used aspects of Champa towers and temples. At present, the museum displays
approximately 300 sandstone and terra-cotta sculptures, among which some are
made from terracotta. Most of the artifacts are masterpieces of Champa art and
some are considered to be equal to works anywhere in the world. The sculptures
were collected from Cham temples and towers throughout Central Vietnam, more
specifically the area stretching from Quang Binh to Binh Thuan. All the
sculptures are displayed in ten showrooms named after the localities where the
pieces have been discovered.
After viewing the pieces in the
showrooms, you can visit exterior exhibitions. The arts of the Champa were
chiefly sculpture, but the sculptures are only part of the religious
architecture. The temples and towers themselves are considered to be sculptural
artifacts. They are decorated on the exterior of their brick walls with
bas-relief columns, flowers and leaves and worshipping figures between brick
pillars. The tympana, lintels and the ornamental corner pieces are of
sandstones carved with the figures of gods, the holy animals of the Hindus and
flowers and leaves.
The artifacts displayed at the
museum are altars, statues and decorative works collected from Hindu and
Buddhist temples and towers. Champa sculpture displays various styles.
Sometimes they were influenced by other cultures but no matter at what period
or in what style the Champa artifacts were made they always displayed original
characteristics.
Visitors to the museum will have
the opportunity to appreciate the eight centuries of evolution of Champa
sculpture from its golden age to its decline. In their own way, the artifacts
exemplify the rise and fall of the Champa civilization. When we stand before
these artistic masterpieces we can comprehend the noblest ideal of art, the
creation of the infinite from the finite. The eight centuries of art at the
Champa museum is a thick history book reflecting the ups and downs of Champa
art. From inanimate stones came living art, and from these wonderful invaluable
artifacts we can get the feeling that the warmth from the Champa artists' hand
is still there, on the fine skin of the stone-timeless.
The sculptures displayed here
almost have the same drifting life as the very destiny of the once-glorious
culture that generated them. Through the ruins of time, war and even the
oblivion, such original Champa sculptures were hardly collected and brought
here by many human generations. And in this systematic collection, these works
of the ancient Champa artists again have a new life.
Coming to visit the museum, it
seems that you can see again the glorious time of the past of a nation for whom
both the passion for art and the creative talent were already at a very high
level. The mysterious world of deities, the pictorial legends, the religious
symbols, the curving lines of the bodies of dancing girls, the features of full
swelling breasts, the smiles of a vague time, all of these are shown very
lively and in much in details.
The art of Champa, although
influenced by the Hindu themes of India and Southeast Asia, has many elements
that make it distinctive. Temples in Champa were made of bricks. As a result,
artists did not have long expanses of wall to decorate with bas-reliefs
depicting Hindu epics or phases of Buddhist life as seen, for example, at
Angkor Wat. The Chams incorporated their sculptures into their temple
architecture by carving them separately and making them part of the
construction. These carvings are classified into four main groups: Icons;
Pedestals; Pediments; Fragments of architectural decorations at the base or on
various ties of the temple.
Profoundly influenced by the
architecture and sculpture of the Indian civilization, the ancient Champa has a
vision of life and religion according to their own feeling. Such refraction
brought to their world of art a subtle and distinct beauty: spiritual and very
close, unique and familiar...
