What Does MONA Mean?
Oct 16In every interview, we asked what you are most proud of. We asked what you would miss the most if you were forced to leave this place. Your answers varied.
Some of us love that in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race we cheer for everyone, first place and last. We love that from the top of our mountain, up to our ankles in snow, we can spot a great beach and play in the Derwent fifteen minutes later. We’re proud of our wine and beer, our whisky and gin, our cheese, our coffee, our wasabi. We’re proud that while some people hate the Salamanca Christmas Tree, others knit jumpers for it.
Every last one of you is proud of MONA.
You love that David Walsh did not grow up wealthy. You love that he’s a bit of a rascal. You love the museum, even if you hate some of its exhibits, and how people from around the world want to experience the place. You love that it’s in Glenorchy. You love the festivals.
Even better than the museum itself, you love what MONA means: that at our best, anyone can do anything here. And the Hobartian thing is to encourage and celebrate her — or him. In other cities, philanthropists put on cocktail dresses and tuxedos and put their names on the sides of old fashioned institutions. In Hobart, a philanthropist can invent a new one. In a place that can feel “over-governed,” you love that MONA is ungovernable.
Some island cultures are mono-cultural and conformist, even stiflingly so. Not this one. There can only be one MONA but this is what MONA means: in Hobart, in your own way, you can do it too.
October 16, 2017 at 12:04 pm
CraigMONA means:
Money from a Tasmanian without intergenerational strings (until he carks it at least)
The human condition as purpose
people centred in place – where place is indigenous and the people are there for it
A loving tap tap to the brain
October 17, 2017 at 11:14 am
PipMona is boundaryless – it’s not built in ‘Hobart’ but has extended to Hobart through its festivals and now ‘adopted’ by all Tasmanians as our own. Mona is as much an ‘amulet’ as it is a museum – an expression of social inclusion, antiestablishmentarianism, accepting of all cultures, views, ages, genders without judgement. It tells people they are safe to be who they want to be – no matter if anyone else considers it weird or contraversial It tells them that there are no barriers to what they can do. That’s what Tasmanian’s value – to narrow that to “Hobart’ is antithetical to what Mona stands for.
October 17, 2017 at 12:02 pm
SeanIT’S THE BEST OF US. This times 100
October 18, 2017 at 9:14 am
TonyMONA has taken us from being seen as a backwater to being at the leading edge of creativity and thinking. I have a friend in Melbourne who brings his international visitors to MONA – in two instances just for a day trip.
October 18, 2017 at 5:08 pm
StephenOn maps, in conversations, on bucket lists. MONA has catapulted Hobart from unremarkable to global destination. Most importantly, it punched right through our occasional mediocrity -which surfaces whenever we have seen hard times – and has led us to demonstrate our excellence. Hobart IS so much more than MONA and with our new found confidence, I have noticed that many here are now more inspired to show our creative and unique qualities.
October 19, 2017 at 10:45 am
KatinkaYay for yarnbombing! I see that craftivism is thriving during the Marriage Equality campaign, from suburban streets to the Town Hall. I’ve met so many creative people who illustrate their civic pride through community art & craft projects; to bridge generation gaps, to support various causes – or just because. #SoHobart
October 25, 2017 at 2:09 pm
LindsayMONA has really livened up an already beautiful city. Dark MOFO festival this year had everybody bubbling, smiling and proud of living here. I loved people coming out of their offices to hear Siren Song. All ages taking part in the procession of Burning of Ogoh-Ogoh. Brilliantly organised, catering for 550,000 visitors, huge variety of events and, great, some of them were controversial. (Well done to Hodgman for not intervening in the protests. This is art – not politics.) I am sure David Walsh is a complete bastard but you need a few live wires around the place who revel in ruffling feathers.
October 27, 2017 at 1:00 pm
MonaMONA has definately put Hobart on the map! It has made more people want to visit Tasmania from interstate as well as internationally.
I think MONA has somehow formed Hobart’s own culture and presence as to what we represent as a state. I think it would be great if MONA expanded its events up North and other cities too around Tasmania rather than just in Hobart. It would be great to have people make road trips around the state to visit the various events.
Hobart can become more than MONA possibly but at this point I think MONA has definitely made Hobart a way more exciting place (no pun intended ….. :))
November 24, 2017 at 11:01 am
JanThe TSO and Mary Donaldson lifted the international profile of Tasmania. However, it ii unlikely that notables like Bill Gates would have visited Hobart if not for MONA.
The creative and business team that David Walsh has built with MONA should be acknowledged for how they have influenced the overall business and cultural confidence in Tasmania.