Dak Lak local Ngo Thi Kim Cuc, 56, is famous locally for her collection of 3,000 cultural exhibits collected from ethnic groups in the Central Highlands region.

Cuc and her drum collection

She graduated from university in 1980, specialising in museum management. She initially worked for Dak Lak Museum, and was then promoted to Director of Dak Nong Museum. She retired in 2010. During her business trips to remote localities in the Central Highlands, she was offered many souvenirs, including necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, and ornaments.

“At first, I kept these keepsakes just to recall nice memories, I didn’t have any view of collecting cultural exhibits or antiques”, Cuc said.

Her turning point was in 1993, when the Government opened up cultural operations to the private sector, which encouraged Cuc to upgrade her personal collection. All of her savings have been spent on collecting cultural exhibits since then.

After 30 years of collecting, she now has over 3,000 cultural exhibits featuring almost every minor ethnic group in the Central Highlands. Ede and M’nong exhibits account for 70-80% of the collection, with the remainder made up of items from the Jarai, Bana, and Xedang peoples. Cuc has rummaged throughout the Central Highlands to discover valuable cultural objects.

Pride of place in her collection goes to the hundred-year-old huge wine jars and drums from the Ede, M’nong, J’rai ethnic groups. The cheapest exhibit is Ede set of offerings worth VND 1 million (USD47.9), while the most expensive item she owns is a  set of elephant hunting tools worth VND80 million (USD3,835).

The collection is divided into several groups featuring drums, hunting tools, huge wine jars, ethnic costumes, household appliances, and musical instruments, including 130 ethnic drums and 100 huge wine jars.

“The numbers of cultural artefacts have sharply reduced, and one day it will be impossible to find these items, which historical and cultural values telling us about the spiritual and material lives, manners and customs of the ethnic groups here. Saving these exhibits is a way of preserving the culture of these ethnic groups,” Cuc said.

Cuc has a heartfelt aspiration to build her own private museum, but finding a 5,000-square metre plot of land isn’t an easy job. Cuc’s house is now subject to a clearance project, so her plan has yet to be carried out. She is resigned to displaying her collection in the Diem Hen Coffee House in Buon Ma Thuot City’s Tu An Ward. Her exhibits are stored in several other places as the coffee house isn’t big enough to store all of her items.

“I have to ask my relatives and friends to keep some artefacts for me due to the limited space. When it rains, my husband and I have to stretch out canvas to cover the exhibits. If it’s humid, we smoke them to prevent the collection from being worm-eaten”, Cuc said.

“I would like to build a museum based on the architecture of local ethnic groups. These exhibits will be displayed in stilt house, a communal house featuring Bana, Xedang ethnic construction techniques, a M’nong arched house, and a Ede long house”.

“If I can’t establish a museum, it will be my biggest regret for a lifetime. Some exhibits in my collection are going to turn to dust”.