Lao National Museum

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Laos - Vientiane - Sights- Lao National Museum

Lao National Museum

Address: Th Samsenthai, National Stadium

Phone tel: (021) 212461 (info)

Keyword: museum

The Lao National Museum's limited collection of historical and revolutionary exhibits will never be confused with the Louvre. But it does serve to sum up the country's ongoing struggle to come to grips with its own identity, so it's worth a look. The museum is housed in a large administrative building originally built as the colonial police commissioner's office in the 1920s. It became a museum in the 1990s and until recently it was known as the 'Lao Revolutionary Museum'.

And while the museum is being slowly overhauled room by room, much of the collection retains an unmistakable revolutionary zeal. There are many artefacts and photos from the Pathet Lao's (PL) lengthy struggle for power, as well as enough historic weaponry to arm all the extras in a Rambo film. Among the more notable exhibits are a chest expander once used by the founding father of communist Laos, Kaysone Phomvihane; mundane items like rice baskets, spoons and even dried herbs used by prominent revolutionaries during the resistance; and a modest collection of industrial items produced by Laos during the '90s, such as a few generic pharmaceuticals. While these things might not have you panting with expectation - and let's face it, individually they are as unexciting as they sound - the real value in visiting the museum is to compare these older rooms to those upgraded more recently. These emphasise cultural influences, traditional musical instruments, Khmer sandstone sculptures that illustrate the Khmer influence on Laos, and rooms that deal with other historical periods that have nothing to do with the communist victory. Whether consciously or not, it appears to reflect a slow move away from the hardline socialist ideals that the Pathet Lao fought for, and which dominated domestic policy in the 15 to 20 years after 1975, towards a more broad-based, nationalist view of history and national identity. Most exhibits are labelled with at least some English.

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