Stories of the Mekong – Challenges and Dreams is a traveling exhibition in cooperation between 15 institutions in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Sweden. The exhibition gathers contemporary and historical voices in a reflection of life along the Mekong River, in 9 different stories. Stories of the Mekong: Challenges and Dreams opens at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology on 25 November 2009, and will be shown in An Giang province, then in Cambodia and Laos. The exhibition is displayed in two venues in each country and finally in Sweden in 2012.
The life along the Mekong River is threatened by globalization, but it also gives hope for many young people. In this international traveling exhibition Stories of the Mekong: Challenges and Dreams, the voices of ordinary people in different communities are heard. These are voices of change and action, but also of tradition and learning between generations.
This exhibition is one of the result of a unique cooperation of the Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Development – A program of museum cooperation in Southeast Asia (MuSEA). The MuSEA strives to make museums and cultural heritage institutions real actors in the promotion of sustainable development. A broad range of institutions in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam are gathered in a cooperation run by the Swedish National Museums of World Culture on the initiative of Sida. In Vietnam, along with the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the Department of Cultural Heritage, Vietnam Museum of History, and An Giang Provincial Museum also participate in this program.
The institutions within the MuSEA program work to reach out to underrepresented groups, making culture visible and accessible as an important aspect of poverty alleviation.
MuSEA program has been started since 2005, encompassing capacity building and research, and aims to provide tools for reaching out to communities through various training programs. The program rests upon the diversity of skills and experiences among its participants, and strives to increase expertise in museology, collections management and communication.
In the work of MuSEA, the voice of the community is continuously present, allowing different views and interpretations.
The MuSEA institutions cooperate closely with the community in research and selection of objects, striving to promote and protect local and shared heritage. The exhibition will be brought back to the communities through documentation and educational programs. 
International Children’s Day – 2010
“Friendship Connections”
(05/21) 
