A twenty-first-century Wunderkammer: Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Abstract

The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) was founded by Australian collector David Walsh in Hobart, Tasmania, in 2011. The intuitive arrangement of art and objects from different cultures and periods creates a modern day Wunderkammer effect that is visually spectacular and seen to be unique to MONA. Walsh challenges the sanctity of the established art museum by reorganizing presentation models and injecting an element of inquisitiveness to exhibition displays that have much to do with the prevailing culture of curiosities and the notion of time and the changing world. Although it is often described as having an immediate context in contemporary curating, I would argue, by contrast, that much of ..