Sneak peek of Mona’s mysterious new The House of Kiefer wing, set to house David Walsh’s ‘dream library’
Artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele, who is married to Mona owner and founder David Walsh, has offered a sneak peek of the museum’s mysterious new wing, which is still under construction.
Tasmania
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A mysterious new wing at Mona is set to house founder and owner David Walsh’s “dream library” - but little else is known about the building, which is still under construction.
With a working title of The House of Kiefer, the wing will link with existing parts of the museum via two new tunnels.
The museum already boasts a piece by German artist Anselm Kiefer in its collection.
Mona is remaining tight-lipped about the project, with its purpose and opening date unknown.
However, artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele, who is married to Walsh, has hinted at what the building may be used for, offering a sneak peek of the works on her Instagram this week with a video walk-through of the sandstone tunnels.
Appearing in the clip, Walsh says: “I mean, obviously, financially it’s terrible but progress is amazing.”
Kaechele wrote that the new wing was “coming along beautifully”.
“So many surprises – the intensity of colours in the sandstone and some interesting metal deposits,” she said on the post. “It’s money-intensive, to say the least … But it’s worth it.”
“One day it will house hubby’s dream library, along with many treasures.”
Hoarding around the site proclaims: “David’s building something new. We’ve given up trying to stop him.”
A development application for the project was lodged with Glenorchy City Council in late 2020, showing that the building would be located near Ryoji Ikeda’s Spectra light installation.
It has been designed by the Melbourne based Fender Katsalidis Architects, the firm behind the original museum building.
The new wing will be the museum’s third major extension, following the $27m Siloam project in 2019, featuring a network of underground tunnels and gallery spaces, and the $32m Pharos extension in 2017, which included a restaurant and four works by American artist James Turrell.
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