DestinAsian – August 01, 2019

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AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2019 – DESTINASIAN.COM

eclectic collection of antiquities and contemporary
art. Built into a sandstone peninsula on the Derwent,
the museum was a shocking, perplexing, and thrill-
ing addition to the city and an instant draw for art
enthusiasts and intrigued locals (Tasmanians enter
for free), filled with works that frequently defy de-
scription or categorization—most famously, a wall of
porcelain vulvas and a mad-scientist-like installation
that replicates the human digestive system, produc-
ing “feces” on a daily basis.
“MONA shone a light on what’s already here,”
Mark Wilson, the museum’s co-chief executive, told
me over lunch at MONA’s Pharos wing, a US$22-mil-
lion extension that opened in December 2017. “Ho-
bart has a creative community that is easy to engage
with, it’s easy to get around, and the landscape lends
itself to creativity.” Wilson explained how Pharos,
derived from the Greek word meaning “lighthouse,”
serves as a beacon to showcase the work of the pio-
neering American light artist James Turrell, acting as
a relief from the dark, confusing journey within the
underground galleries. Newer still is the series of tun-
nels and chambers that connect the wing to the main
museum. Called Siloam, it hosts large-scale artworks
by Ai Weiwei, Christopher Townend, Oliver Beer, and
Alfredo Jaar, whose immersive three-part installation
The Divine Comedy simulates the workings of purga-
tory, heaven, and hell.
MONA also runs the summertime music-and-arts

festival MONA FOMA (held in Launceston, Tasmania’s

second largest city) and its June version Dark MOFO,

an event that singlehandedly transformed wintertime

Hobart from a town of hibernation to one where lo-

cals and tourists revel in the southern solstice.

The influence of MONA on Hobart’s art dynamic

can’t be overstated. “It’s had a Bilbao effect,” Jane Cas-

tle, the cultural programs coordinator for Hobart City

Council, told me at the city’s neo-Renaissance town

hall. “Among the general population it has increased

art literacy and led to more opportunities to experi-

ence contemporary art. As for visitors, people fly in

and out just for MONA. Many people are moving here

now.” The Hedberg, which she calls a fantastic facil-

ity that is both inward- and outward-looking, will add

to that cultural richness, in a sense capping an arts

movement that has been two centuries in the making.

More than 10 museums and galleries sit within

a 10-minute walk of the Franklin Wharf, among them

the Salamanca Arts Centre (SAC). Occupying sand-

stone warehouses that date from the 1800s, it houses

potters and jewelers, artisan retailers, and a theater

on its ground floor, while upstairs are galleries and

studio spaces. It was here that I met Michaye Boulter,

who moved from Canada decades earlier to study at

Hobart’s Tasmanian School of Art and never left. “The

natural beauty, the food and wine make this a great

place to create,” she enthused while showing me her

Address Book

Art Mob

29 Hunter St.; 61-3/

6236-9200; artmob

.com.au.

Henry Jones Art Hotel

25 Hunter St.; 61-3/

6210-7700; thehenry

jones.com; doubles

from US$140.

MONA - Museum of

Old and New Art

655 Main Rd.,

Berriedale; 61-3/6277-

9900; mona.net.au.

Moonah Arts Centre

23–27 Albert Rd.,

Moonah; 61-3/6216-

6316; moonaharts

centre.org.au.

Theatre Royal Hobart

29 Campbell St.;

61-3/6146-3300;

theatreroyal.com.au.

Salamanca Arts Centre

65-77 Salamanca Place;

salarts.org.au.

South Hobart Living

Arts Centre

14 Weld St. South;

61/428-603-299;

soholivingarts.org.