HCMC exhibition displays over 100 ancient Buddha statues

By Mai Nhat November 11, 2019 | 12:20 am PT

Over 100 Buddha statues collected by Ngo Thi Thuong over 30 years from Vietnam, Japan, China, South Korea and Myanmar are on display in HCMC.

The statues will be on display from now till November 20th at the Exhibition of Buddhist Sculpture that has just opened at the HCMC Fine Arts Museum.

Thuong, a collector of Buddhist sculpture, said she was motivated to collect ancient Vietnamese Buddha statues because she felt a loss of reverence for them, being replaced by industrially manufactured copies which are lifeless and identical.

One of the 80 ancient Buddha statues on display. Photo by VnExpress/Mai Nhat.

Most of the statues in the collection are from Japan. After World War II, many of the country's artifacts were lost to foreign countries, and subsequently sold at international auctions where they were highly sought after by collectors. Thuong repeatedly went abroad to bid for Buddha statues and bring them back to Vietnam.

Made with a variety of materials, including bronze, wood, white jade, coral, stone, ceramic, the works in the exhibition have many vivid postures.

The exhibition is open at at the HCMC Fine Arts Museum, 97A Pho Duc Chinh, District 1, HCMC. Entrance is free and open to the public.