Mona is a museum in Hobart, Tasmania, created by David Walsh to help him (in his words) ‘bang above [his] weight’. Anything we say to describe Mona will date quickly, given we are constantly changing our mind about what Mona is. Possibilities include:
- David’s fitness marker: think of him as a peacock and his paintings as his feathers.*
- Sea World, with cocktails, and a few works of quite-good-but-not-amazing Australian modernism;
- A place to tie the knot, and push up the daisies;
- Purveyor of hot chippies (among other culinary delights);
- Somewhere people can come to say ‘not sure about the art but the architecture is amazing’;
- Nice spot to listen to some live music;
- A really elaborate marketing stunt;
- A really expensive kitchen garden.
*We used to have a boy peacock at the museum but it kept attacking blue cars. It’s not at Mona anymore; it’s gone to live on a lovely farm.