Exhibition features history of HCM City from feudal to modern city

An exhibition entitled ‘Saigon from a feudal city to Western-style city’ opened in Ho Chi Minh City on January 3, reflecting the history of the formation of Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City.

At the exhibition (Source: VNA)
At the exhibition (Source: VNA)

The event was held by the National Archives Centre No. II on the occasion of the 74th anniversary of the Vietnam National Archives sector.

The exhibition introduces nearly 200 images and documents including Nguyen Dynasty woodblocks – the UNESCO recognised world documentary heritage, documents from the French colonial period and documents collected by many individuals and researchers regarding Saigon, among other interesting artifacts.

Visitors also have the opportunity to witness images, documents, Han-Nom texts, woodblocks, French texts, carved paintings, and photos related to the Southern land and Saigon since the first Vietnamese people settled and set up their villages in the late 16th century.

Furthermore, the exhibition features the period when Saigon became a French colony between 1858 and 1945 and typical architectural works built by the French colonial administration in the second half of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century which have become architectural heritage of Ho Chi Minh City in the present.

Director of the State Records and Archives Department of Vietnam Dang Thanh Tung said that the event aims to disseminate information on historical, cultural and scientific values of archives for the purpose of research and study regarding the transformation of Saigon-Gia Dinh to Ho Chi Minh City over the past two centuries.