Mona: Museum of Old and New Art

Ferry with sheep

The Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart is a Museum you don't easily forget. I was there two weeks ago but it remains very fresh in my memory.  It is like no other museum you have ever visited. I usually last about an hour in a museum, but I was at Mona for five hours and there was not one bored moment of the many I spent there.

Ferries and buses take visitors from Hobart. I took the half hour ferry ride and was pleased I had. I was also pleased I had not read much about it as the many surprises, including the building itself, made my visit memorable. I will not spoil the surprise for those reading this who have not visited, but I can talk about some of the exhibits, not all of which are permanent. 

Mona thumbs its nose at everything: the art establishment especially, but everything else as well, including the creator of this gallery. I didn't notice on my way there, but as the ferry arrived for the return journey to Hobart I could see the group of sheep on the back deck. They looked at us as we looked at them. These quirky, amusing and sometimes in-your-face moments are what Mona is all about.

Golden vase ...
and reflection of me listening to
information via Mona device

Each visitor is given a phone-like device which 
automatically calls up prerecorded information about the art works near that visitor. You can have the information about the works that interest you emailed to you.  (The battery of my device died, so I lost my information - thus few of the images here are captioned.)

Henry Moore head

Woven carpet

The bottom level of the gallery had been divided into four spaces, each comprising several rooms. Four curators had been asked to exhibit art that answers the question 'What is art?"  I found the question captivating as I had written an essay in my second year at art school with the title 'What is art anyway?'

Interestingly two of the curators answered the same way, although with different exhibits. I didn't agree with their premise though, that art is all about survival of the species.

Fat red car

As I sat waiting for the ferry, I realised there was an art video playing right in front of me:

My Mona Video