via Da Nang Today, 07 July 2023: The Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture, established through the efforts of Charles Lemire, a French envoy, houses a unique collection of Cham sculptures.
The idea of building a museum to house Cham sculptures was initiated by Charles Lemire (1839-1912), a French Résident in Central Viet Nam.
In 1891, Charles Lemire worked as a French envoy in Tourane (currently known as Da Nang) and Faifo (currently known as Hoi An City).
In 1892, Lemire took 50 sculptures to the Tourane Garden, the present site of the museum. After that, he continued to collect and add to the collection up to 90 Champa sculpture artifacts.
In 1893, he proposed that the colonial authorities establish a museum in Tourane to safely store the sculptures in place of the open-air exhibition.
