Mona, a privately funded museum, is drawing tourists to Tasmania
A privately funded museum, with its many festivals and events, is drawing tourists to Tasmania, writes Janelle Carrigan
As the southernmost state in Australia, Tasmania has forever been the butt of jokes. But to the surprise of many onlookers, the remote island's image has been slowly changing in recent years - due in no small part to the privately funded and highly regarded Museum of New and Old Art (Mona).
In 2011, Tasmanian millionaire David Walsh opened the museum on the Berriedale peninsula, a quick ferry ride from the state capital, Hobart. The art here is quirky and iconoclastic - very much like its owner. In just a few years, Mona has become a cultural nucleus: the museum, as well as its spin-off festivals and events, is now a drawcard for a growing number of interstate and overseas visitors.
People are so tired of overbranded commercialised activities and experiences that it feels like you're in the queue and it's all been preset
Mona's annual winter festival, Dark Mofo, is only in its second year but it has proved to be the embodiment of the irreverent playground for the arts. Dark Mofo, which finishes today, taps into the southern hemisphere's shortest day of the year, celebrating the winter solstice with a Bacchanalian feast, light installations, live music and art stagings.
It's not a typical arts and music festival, but that doesn't faze the locals. Across Hobart, businesses are embracing a "Paint the Town Red" theme, in keeping with the primary colour of the festival. Bars and restaurants are being lit with red lights and hotel staff are ditching their regulation shirts for red ones.
Walsh says the level of support Mona is receiving is unexpected. "I was a bit surprised that anyone in Tasmania cared," he says. "I took my daughter to the cinema this morning and people were coming up to me and they were saying, 'We really like what you've done.' And I'm, like, 'What did I do?'"
Mona attracts about 292,000 paying visitors a year (locals get in for free), according to Tourism Tasmania. More than a million people come to Tasmania each year, and a third are spending some time at the museum.