No. of Recommendations: 5
MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) – A world-renowned museum featuring provocative and fascinating contemporary art. Taken from their web site (I couldn’t put it better):
Mona is the playground and megaphone of David Walsh, who grew up in Tassie (just down the road from Mona), dropped out of uni, played cards, won, did some other stuff, and opened a small museum of antiquities to which no one came. He declared it a triumph and decided to expand. The result is Mona, a temple to secularism, rationalism, and talking crap about stuff you really don’t know very much about. We won’t tell anyone. Come and play.
There’s art and exhibitions and stuff but also live music, food, wine, bars, restaurants, cellar door, accommodation, library, recording studio, and a tennis court. Mona was designed to be explored—as a space of wonder and experiment—with the O, which you should totally download before you get here. Catch the ferry from Hobart. Sit on sheep.
You could probably speed through everything in three or four hours, but we recommend you hang around—make a day of it.
Our high-speed, camouflaged ferries travel regularly between Hobart and Mona, leaving Hobart from Brooke Street Pier on the waterfront - $30 roundtrip/return
Same ferry, but f***ing posh. Escape the riff-raff in the ferry’s private lounge, bar and deck. Includes complimentary bevvies, tiny food and inflated egos - $65 roundtrip/return
Museum costs an additional $39 adult/$33 senior (kids to 11 are free, 12-17 are $17)
My review of Mona: After seeing many of the world’s greatest museums, I can readily say that Mona is unique enough to qualify for membership to their ranks. First, let’s clear the air of the “other news”. There are a number of objects displayed which will likely be found very objectionable by some. That said, even the most conservative attendee is likely to find far more which entertains them than otherwise and I would recommend this museum to all art-lovers.
The museum has largely been hewed out of solid rock and has an eclectic architecture which affords it display spaces able to display items larger than any other museum I can think of. Some items are over 100 feet (33 meters) long and some fit neatly into small shelves. They are placed without regard for age – mummies and cuneiform tablets are mixed with the ultra-modern. There are sounds augmenting the exhibits, there is digitized flowing water, showers of molten metal, audio/video effects, and continually the unexpected. The museum is not a place to expect to see the old-masters or even the place to find the works of the 19th and 20th century impressionists, but it is a place to find an expertly curated collection of the curious, the unusual and art which both entertains and makes you think.
While the museum is normally entered by ascending a staircase of 99 steps, but there is a lift/elevator inside of a doorway to the right of the ferry dock and the grounds as well as the interior are wheelchair accessible.
Tasmania has much to offer, but this museum is unique enough to be a must-see when you visit Hobart.
Jeff
