The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart, Tasmania, is one of the few places on Earth where you can feel like you’re actually in the first ring of hell – but in a really incredible, positive and life-altering kinda way.
MONA is a place that defies most explanations. If this story was in MONA, it would probably stop right here and then leave you to work the rest out yourself. Thankfully, we aren’t a mammoth fever dream created by a professional gambler, so we’ll tell you what you need to know.
This colossal and futuristic alien space is stuffed with the weirdest, most dazzling and generally horrifying things you’ve probably ever seen. The beauty of a privately-owned gallery is that really, anything goes. Whether it's the classical wall of ceramic vaginas, an intricate glass machine that produces legitimate faeces, or the wax head of an Italian man from the 12th century, MONA is all about art – but it doesn’t discriminate as to what real art really is.
MONA began after founder David Walsh made a tiny museum of antiquities on a lonely peninsula off Hobart. When nobody turned up (in his words), he decided to expand, creating the Batmobile-like museum that we all know and love today. Full of sex, death and mystery, this subversive space is full of labyrinth-like corners, hidden oases of intrigue, and a mind-boggling mix of ancient, contemporary and classic art from all over the world and human history.
These days, you can ogle the legitimate mixing desk from Abbey Road (as well as a possible group of real-life recording musicians) at the gorgeous new Frying Pan Studios through a tiny hole in the wall. You can also dig into an exotic variety of haute Tasmanian-sourced food and drink, wander through glowing tunnels by James Turrell, and lounge on a vast lawn under the Tassie sun while an obscure artist may or may not be singing a choral song by a fire pit. If there’s one thing for sure: you are not going to be bored.
Open from Friday to Monday every week, MONA is free to enter for all Tasmanians, but for the rest of us mainlanders, it’ll cost us $35 if we’re adults, $30 if we’re a concession, and $18 if we are under 18 (under 12s can come in free).
With revolving exhibitions, MONA will never be exactly the same experience for every visitor, but if you do head down to the great freezing south, no trip can be considered truly complete without a day trip to this transcendent palace of big, bad and mad ideas. You won’t regret it. Trust us.