This is the place where countless antiques and artifacts are stored in Vinh Phuc.

With meticulousness, perseverance, and scientific working methods, they are the ones who silently keep the "soul" of each artifact, contributing to preserving local historical values, serving the research and sightseeing of people and tourists from near and far.

Every day, officers of the Vinh Phuc Provincial Museum Department open the artifact warehouses to carry out inventory, classification, preventive preservation, monitoring, and inspection of artifacts.

In the quiet space behind the door, thousands of large and small artifacts, though stained by time, are carefully preserved and maintained, still retaining their cultural characteristics and marks of historical stages of formation and development of the homeland and nation.

With 20 years of experience in the profession, and also the person with the longest experience working in the artifact warehouse, Ms. Do Thi Thu Ha, Head of the Museum's Professional Department, shared: The department has 3 staff in charge, all of whom are experienced and passionate about the profession. In addition to research and collection work, members must regularly inventory, preserve, and display artifacts to suit the theme to serve different purposes.

Currently, the Provincial Museum preserves and maintains more than 22,000 artifacts from many sources such as collections, donations, exchanges, purchases, and restorations by individuals or organizations.

To preserve artifacts safely and easily, we divide them according to material and characteristics of the artifacts, so each warehouse will be preserved according to a uniform requirement of temperature and humidity.

Staff of the Vinh Phuc Provincial Museum's Professional Department clean and ventilate ancient artifacts stored and preserved in the warehouse every day.

For example, for artifacts such as ancient coins, primitive weapons, etc. made of metal, temperature, humidity, and light must be maintained to prevent oxidation and metal corrosion.

Artifacts made of bone and horn such as production tools, bones, animal teeth... in addition to being cleaned, must be preserved using special treatment methods under the guidance of experts.

In addition, staff must wear gloves when touching artifacts to avoid causing damage or affecting the artifacts.

Cleaning the exhibits on site must be thorough and careful, because the original exhibits that are preserved and displayed all carry the "soul" of the heroic historical and cultural values ​​of the nation, and cannot be found a second time if they are lost or damaged.

While diligently cleaning the ancient bowl, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, an officer of the Museum's Professional Department, said: Not all artifacts are immediately put into storage after being found, but the artifacts will be classified, evaluated, verified, and then officially put into storage. At that time, the artifacts will continue to be inventoried, numbered according to the collections for proper arrangement and preservation.

Each artifact has its own origin, story, and is marked by the wear and tear and cracks of time. Some artifacts were excavated from riverbeds, streams, and ancient tombs; others accompanied revolutionary soldiers through rains of bombs and bullets...

However, because they bear the marks of time, these artifacts are sacred and have special historical value, creating "pieces" of local history.

At the Provincial Museum, special collections are preserved including ancient Vietnamese remains of the Phung Nguyen culture; human objects from different historical periods made of wood, paper, and metal; ceramic and porcelain household items typical of the Dong Dau culture; national treasures such as the enameled ceramic tower of Tro Pagoda; weapons and equipment of the people and revolutionary soldiers...

These are collections that are often exhibited and are highly interconnected, helping viewers imagine life, activities, and struggles through the ages.

Each exhibit at Vinh Phuc Provincial Museum is regularly cleaned and scientifically arranged by staff.

Ms. Do Thi Thu Ha, Head of the Museum's Professional Department, added: In reality, few people want to choose this profession because it is both toxic and boring. Although the work is not hard, it requires honesty, meticulousness, and diligence.

In particular, those who do the job must have passion and not be afraid of hardship or difficulty because in addition to scientific research, the staff must also spend a lot of time researching documents and history, regularly organizing surveys, field trips, meetings, recording stories, and exploiting documents from historical witnesses and revolutionary veterans in the localities, from which they can understand the cultural and historical values ​​hidden in the artifacts.

However, if I understand and am passionate about the profession, when I come into contact with archaeological artifacts, I am very moved by the cultural values ​​they bring, because through them, I seem to return to the way of life of ancient people.

To me, historical artifacts all have a "soul". When preserved and placed together with artifacts from the same period, they will together "tell" the story of a historical period of the homeland and nation.

Each artifact is a witness to history, therefore, preserving artifacts is to preserve information and value of artifacts, contributing significantly to museum activities.

With passion and love for the profession, the staff of the Museum's Professional Department have quietly completed their work well, improved their professional capacity, explored and exploited the hidden cultural and historical values ​​behind so that the artifacts can "tell" their own stories to visitors inside and outside the province, and at the same time contribute to educating cultural and historical traditions for future generations.

Source: https://danviet.vn/chat-chua-la-liet-do-co-hien-vat-co-dem-voi-cha-xue-o-vinh-phuc-chinh-la-o-noi-nay-20241002235518592.htm