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DESTINASIAN.COM – AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2019
DISPATCHES ART SCENEmoody seascapes of the island’s southwest coast. A
few doors down, homegrown Hobartian Katherine
Cooper was working on a hyper-realistic painting of
an endemic wedge-tailed eagle. “Hobart is still a com-
munity. It retains a village feel and I am hoping that
doesn’t change. The people here are very generous.”
Every Saturday, the street outside SAC hosts Sala-
manca Market, Tasmania’s most visited tourist attrac-
tion, where 300 stalls sell products like whisky and
cheese made on the island, as well as local arts and
crafts. One vendor specializes in wooden bow ties
and another makes small fairy doors from clay. Sarah
Webb sells ocean-inspired ceramic jewelry and home-
wares under the brand Sea Soul Studio. She grew up
around Hobart and appreciates the supportive nature
of the place. “It’s collaborative here, not competitive.
People are encouraging, making you brave enough to
follow your artistic pursuits. MONA has also allowed
people to realize that to be an artist, it doesn’t matter
if the work is pretty or on-trend.”
Across the wharf, on a compact stretch of Hunter
Street, wanderers encounter Art Mob—the only Ab-
original art gallery in Tasmania—and, next door, the
Henry Jones Art Hotel. Opened in 2004 in an aban-
doned jam factory, it’s a fine place to take the pulse
of Tasmania’s contemporary art scene. Hobart-bornEmine Lewis, the hotel’s “art liaison,” led me on a
tour of the property’s 400 pieces of art (all for sale),
some of which were the work of graduates from the
neighboring UTAS School of Creative Arts and Media,
Lewis’s alma mater. I saw works that were whimsi-
cal, political, haunting, joyful. One, Woven by Nigel
Hewitt, was created using ash from a bushfire and
explores the fragility and loss of natural environment.
“All the pieces here are from artists based in Tasma-
nia. We’ve always had a booming art scene, but the
rest of the world didn’t know it. MONA really put us
on the map,” Lewis told me. Last November, the hotel
launched a A$20,000 art prize for emerging local tal-
ent, adding to the list of other Tasmanian art awards
like the Glover Prize and Hadley’s Art Prize.
Away from the water in the suburb of South Ho-
bart, the South Hobart Living Arts Centre occupies a
19th-century former state school that has been reno-
vated with federal, state, and city funds. Today it is
home to arts and cultural institutions like Tasmania
Performs (which stages performances and workshops
in its community hall) and holds fundraisers for
causes like Rohingya refugees. Lucinda Toynbee Wil-
son, the facility’s manager, hopes it will develop into a
regional arts center, though for that it needs funding.
“I want this to be an incubator, a place for the com-
munity to enjoy arts,” she said.
In Glenorchy, situated just a few kilometers up-
river from Hobart in the greater metropolitan area,
the Moonah Arts Centre might serve as a model for
Wilson. Built in 2015 and run by the local council, it
enables residents to engage with the arts through ex-
hibitions, workshops, music, dance, and theater per-
formances. On the day of my visit, toddlers chirped
in a singing class, a hall displayed abstract works by a
local ceramicist, and another space was being used for
a workshop run by two Rajasthani potters.
“Glenorchy has invested in arts and culture for a
long time,” Eleanor Downes, the center’s arts coordi-
nator, explained. “We do this because we know that
the arts bring good will, they help bind the communi-
ty together, and they build pride and understanding.”
Such a strong foundation, one that benefits everyone,
might go a long way to explaining Hobart’s extraordi-
nary and enduring artistic legacy.Above, from left: “After
the Flood,” a recent
exhibition of large-scale
works on paper by
environmental artist
Hilary Green at the
Moonah Arts Centre;
Ai Weiwei’s White House
installation looms
large in the new tunnel
extension at MONA. TOP
:^ COURTESYOFMONA