Khmer cultural gallery: a hot attraction in Soc Trang

Located in Nguyen Chi Thanh street, ward 6, Soc Trang city, Soc Trang province, the Khmer cultural gallery stores and displays hundreds of diverse artifacts, reflecting the rich cultural and spiritual life of the Khmer people living in Soc Trang in particular and the Khmer people in the Mekong Delta in general.

With an area of 2,344 sqm, the Khmer cultural gallery consists of a 368sqm-exhibition area, a gallery's yard and an office area. The exhibition area introduces a wide range of Khmer culture, from simple agricultural tools to housing concepts and old working models of the Khmer.

Soc Trang province is home to 362,029 Khmer ethnic people, accounting for 30.18% of the province's population of 1.2 million. Khmer people in Soc Trang live mainly on farming and have a middle-level standard of living. However, they own a rich and diverse cultural and spiritual life, which is reflected throughout about 470 artifacts and concepts at the Khmer cultural gallery.

Son Thanh Liem, Deputy Director of the Soc Trang Provincial Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, informed, two out of eight national-level relics and eight out 43 provincial-level relics belong to the Khmer in Soc Trang.

Over the past time, the provincial cultural sector has well maintained and promoted the value of 8 intangible cultural heritages, including 5 intangible cultural heritages of the Khmer ethnic people. Additionally, seven out of the elite artists in Soc Trang are Khmer people.

“Since 2005, the Vietnam Guinness Organization has recognized the Ooc Om Boc Festival – Ngo boat racing in Soc Trang as a festival with the largest number of Ngo boats and athletes in Vietnam”, said Liem.

In the Mekong Delta, the Khmer Cultural House together with the Soc Trang Museum is considered a typical regional cultural exhibition, which preserves valuable artifacts reflecting the long-standing cultural and spiritual life of the Khmer.