I've just come back from a fascinating visit to Hobart

MONA or The Museum of Old and New Art built by David Walsh, professional gambler, on the site of the former Moorilla Winery in Hobart.
I just spent three days absorbing the magnitude of the undertaking.  David Walsh is my new hero and I will be singing his praises at every opportunity.  Here's a visionary ( a word I don't use lightly) with the balls to put himself on the line and to collect great art for the enjoyment of the general public. He has made Hobart a place to visit time and again.
 
Mona is an integrated structure designed by Fender-Katsalidis comprising a four-storey underground museum, if that is the word, a brewery, a winery, a series of eateries, splendid accommodation on the Derwent river and an outdoor performance area.
The museum is for free and everything else you pay in relation to quality.The art is highly personal, in that it represents the taste of its owner.  The themes are sex and death in no particular order, but not only.
 
Technology in art plays a huge role, reminding me of the original intention of Mildura Palimpsest.  In fact, I cannot help thinking that a proper Mildura Arts Centre, a redeveloped hospital site, an expanded university, combined with the existing arts festival and the Art Vault, could make Mildura an obviously smaller, but equally exciting regional centre.
 
The Hobart locals have embraced this extraordinary space with real gusto.  You see children, people in moccasins, people in the money, of every shape and colour, flocking to this site like it's the ultimate pilgrimage - even better than shopping!
 
Will the day come when our locals will turn up to see the work of, for example, Ken and Julia Yonetani, featured in the recent Artlink magazine, which was based on the salinity issues of Mildura?  Theirs is a work of subtle instruction about the price we pay for our food before it even reaches the table, but free of rhetoric and propaganda.
I wish I had my own museum, but I'm crap at Black Jack.

For more on The Museum of Old and New Art- http://mona.net.au/

For more on Ken and Julia Yonetani - http://www.kenandjuliayonetani.com/contents.html

For an article featuring MONA and David Walsh -
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/temple-of-david/story-e6frg8h6-...