Old Da Lat comes alive through treasured artifacts

Bringing Da Lat's "land of memories" to the public

Nguyen Van Tuan began collecting Da Lat-related artifacts in 1992. His first items were two old bricks he bought on Hoang Dieu Street, formerly known as Lo Gach Street, for VND 2,000 - about the price of two cups of black coffee at the time.

Those two bricks became the starting point of a collecting journey that has lasted nearly 35 years. “I forgot about good food, nice clothes, even marriage. My parents supported my education and I earned several university degrees, but I gave up every job because of my passion for antiques. I turned away from other worldly concerns and only wished to preserve the values of Da Lat's past,” Tuan said.

Tuan devoted nearly all the money he earned to his passion. When he eventually felt that "keeping everything at home would be unfair to Da Lat," he decided to put the artifacts on public display as a tribute to the city where he was born and raised, to mark the 11th Da Lat Flower Festival.

The exhibition features 1,000 artifacts from 15 collections, including antique fireplaces, French ceramics, cash registers, sewing machines, sports trophies, wind-up gramophones, clocks and watches, oil lamps, cameras, glassware, film projectors, silverware, and musical instruments. They were selected from his vast collection of nearly 70,000 items.

Since childhood, Tuan has been fascinated by culture, history, and the changes that places undergo over time. He believes that without preservation, old objects could simply become scrap and eventually disappear from memory. Through his collection, he hopes to preserve the objects and stories that embody the spirit of Da Lat and its people.

Every artifact tells a story

True to the exhibition's name, "Da Lat - A Land of Memories," every artifact on display has a story of its own. A typewriter once used by the Da Lat Geographic Service was salvaged after a fire. More than 100 cash registers brought over by the French were once used in banks before being replaced by modern equipment.

Tuan's French ceramic collection alone contains more than 5,000 pieces, many of which were once used in old villas. Even after a century, many retain their original glaze, patterns, and craftsmanship.

Tuan said many French visitors to Da Lat were deeply moved when he showed them the collection, as even in France it is rare to find such a large number of ceramic pieces dating back more than 100 years preserved in one place.

The collection also includes ceramics made by Thien Thanh, a pottery company established in Da Lat in 1938. Drawing on French techniques, the company produced items featuring Vietnamese cultural patterns and motifs, reflecting both cultural and technical exchange and the Vietnamese spirit of self-reliance.

The exhibition also features two surveying instruments once used by engineers to map out roads across Da Lat's hilly terrain; a pair of giant brass horns once played by imperial guards during ceremonies welcoming Emperor Bao Dai; wind-up gramophones that were once bought for taels and mace of gold; and pocket watches reserved for the aristocracy and intellectual elite of the time. Home film projectors evoke the leisure pursuits of wealthy families before television appeared. A silverware collection reflects the sophistication once found in everyday objects, while glassware brought over by the French remains remarkably clear, colorful, and intricately patterned after around a century.

The camera collection includes several renowned brands, among them a Colex camera once valued at 12 taels of gold, as well as many German cameras more than a century old. Some gramophones were once worth as much as a Honda motorbike, while hand-cranked sewing machines could be carried on long journeys.

Hundreds of sports trophies also recall an earlier era, including trophies sponsored by Emperor Bao Dai for football tournaments, as well as awards from cycling races, nationwide shooting competitions, and trans-Indochina cycling events. The accordion collection evokes dances once held in villas, when a single instrument and a small group of musicians could bring waltzes and tangos to life.

Preserving artifacts out of love for Da Lat

Nguyen Xuan Dung, who has expertise in conservation, said the exhibition space is impressive for both the large number of artifacts and the many valuable items that capture the "spirit" of Da Lat. He believes more spaces like this are needed so that such objects can be introduced to the public, appreciated, and preserved.

To help bring the collection to the public, Le Nam provided support with the venue and facilities and accompanied Tuan in the project, moved by the collector's deep love for Da Lat's culture and history.

Collector Nguyen Van Tuan said he feels fortunate to have been born and raised in Da Lat and sees preserving these keepsakes as a way of giving back to the beautiful land that nurtured him. The "Da Lat - A Land of Memories" exhibition is open to the public free of charge.

As visitors look through the artifacts, the material and cultural life of Da Lat residents from decades past seems to reappear before their eyes. These keepsakes preserve memories of another time, allowing the Da Lat of the past to remain present in the Da Lat of today.