The Real Fakes in Hanoi’s Museums

The World

During the Vietnam War, the directors of the museum in Hanoi decided to hide their nation’s valuable art work to keep it safe from the war. But they wanted to maintain their cultural pride. So they came up with an ingenious plan: hide the originals and fill the museum with well-crafted copies or forgeries. Now, curators at the Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi have found that their walls are still covered with fakes. Where are the originals? We turn to Lawrence Pollard, BBC arts correspondent

Are you with The World?

The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.

When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.