New $27m extension of Mona opens as part of ongoing development at the museum site
Discover new artworks by Alfredo Jaar, Ai Weiwei, Oliver Beer, and Christopher Townend at the Berriedale site.
Tasmania
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THE newest stage in the evolution of Mona has opened today in a move towards positioning itself as the premier cultural tourism destination in Australia.
The $27 million extension known as Siloam was unveiled to media and the public for the first time this morning.
It is a new network of underground tunnels and gallery spaces which connect up other parts of the museum and which are filled with new artworks by Alfredo Jaar, Ai Weiwei, Oliver Beer, and Christopher Townend.
The centrepiece of Siloam is the Divine Comedy by Chilean-born artist Alfredo Jaar, which is a 40-minute experience featuring the recreation of heaven, hell and purgatory as imagined in the 14th century poem by Dante.
Mona owner David Walsh said the original Siloam was one of the first tunnels to be constructed from both ends.
“We dug our version of Siloam to connect two existing areas of the museum, filled it with art and made it greater than the sum of its parts,” he said.
“I liked the idea of approaching heaven from below and forcing our visitors to be part of a procession by traversing a tunnel to nowhere.”
Mona co-chief executive officer Mark Wilsdon said the new extension was part of ongoing development at the Berriedale site, which aimed to put it at the forefront of cultural tourism in Tasmania and Australia.
“We’re now contributing $135m per year into the Tasmanian economy and employing over 400 people and that’s going to grow exponentially as we do the [future] hotel development,” he said.
“We’re wanting to position ourselves to be a true leader in the industry and to delivered a high quality cultural tourism attraction.”
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