Travel

The Weird, Whacky and Wonderful Art You Don’t Want to Miss at MONA

From a room of nothingness to a controversial vaginal wall, MONA is a wonderful place.

best things to see at mona
Photo credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image courtesy of Mona, Hobart, Tasmania

MONA is the legendary museum in Hobart, Tasmania, started by David Walsh, who in his words helped him “bang above his weight.” If there ever was a reason to spend millions of dollars and create Australia’s largest private museum, then I guess Walsh found it.

The museum which has gained attention from around the world is no ordinary museum. The sub-level structure is an architectural marvel, which started as Walsh’s private house, but has now become a maze of underground tunnels, airy, colourful extensions, and a monument to art.

Inside, the walls are constantly changing, but visitors can expect to be shocked, confused, and impressed by not only the art but the restaurants and other spaces. Think of a really expensive kitchen garden, a nice spot to listen to live music, and even a place to tie the knot.

The general collection houses 1900 pieces and counting, and all art goes through the revolving door, but here are the weirdest, whackiest, awe-inspiring artworks to see on your next visit to MONA—if it’s still there when you go.

20:50

This art installation from Richard Wilson was created in 1987 and now lives in MONA. You can walk out to the point, which reveals a depthless surface. The installation is built out of sump oil and steel. The artwork explores reflections and optical illusions. It’s seriously trippy and has become famous for good reason.

Bit.fall

Bit.fall is a waterfall that writes out Google’s top word searches of the day with every fall. Created by Julius Popp, this impressive artwork is definitely one to add to the list. It’s also right near the entrance so you can’t miss it.

Photo Credit: MONA/Jesse Hunniford Image courtesy of the artist and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Beside Myself

Walk along a narrow path, illuminated by bright lights, giving the illusion there is a wall on either side.

best things to see at mona
Photo Credit: MONA/Jesse Hunniford Image courtesy of the artist and MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Event Horizon

James Turrell’s, Event Horizon is a stunning art experience where one enters a room, and all sense of space is lost. The room looks like a projected screen on the wall, but inside, the corners disappear, and distance becomes a faded concept. It’s an incredible experience.

best things to see at mona
Copyright James Turrell Photo Credit: MONA/Rémi Chauvin Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Amarna

This is another of Turrell’s insane installations. During sunrise and sunset, the artwork lights up, harnessing the potential of light and space.

best things to see at mona
Artist: James Turrell Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image courtesy of the artist and Mona, Hobart, Tasmania

Unseen Seen

If you can’t already tell, any Turrell artwork is worth the time. This particular one is a giant white orb, which you can step inside and experience nothingness. Choose a hard or soft mode for different atmospheres.

Ladies Lounge

Sorry men, this one is for the ladies only. We won’t give away too much, but let’s just say the ladies’ lounge is everything you expect of a lounge area just for ladies.

best things to see at mona
Photo credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image courtesy of the artists and Mona, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Cunts…and other conversations

This artwork made a lot of noise when it was first unveiled. The controversies were probably why Walsh secured it for his private collection. It’s confronting but beautiful to see.

Cloaca Professional

We did mention MONA is known for the weird and whacky. Cloaca Professional is an artwork by Belgium artist Wim Delvoye. This piece looks at digestion via machine. At 11 am, they feed the machine, and around 2 pm, you can watch it poop. It gets pretty crowded—be warned, it smells.

best things to see at mona
Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Phase Shifting Index

Part science-fiction documentary, part psychedelic meltdown, this multi-channel video work depicts humans engaged in various forms of group. The movements include tai chi and hardcore rave. The artist, Jeremy Shaw’s vision, forms the basis for a new system of belief—one governed by gesture and body.

best things to see at mona
Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Exodust—Crying Country

Exodust—Crying Country is a collaborative exhibition project from the celebrated Sydney-born and Hobart-based artist Fiona Hall, and AJ King, a Bigambul / Wakka Wakka cultural practitioner. A large timber hut—scorched inside and out—appears amid a scene of environmental devastation, reminiscent of a fire-bombed logging coupe.

best things to see at mona
Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image Courtesy Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Within an utterance

Within an utterance, sees Andrew collaborate with Pakana curator Zoe Rimmer, Aboriginal linguistic consultant Theresa Sainty, and cultural burning practitioner and Wakka Wakka man Luke Mabb. The exhibition also responds to the physical site of Mona, which is dotted with twelve shell middens.

MORE: The Best Restaurants in Hobart Right Now

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Travel

Ditch your Phone for ‘Dome Life’ in this Pastoral Paradise Outside Port Macquarie 

A responsible, sustainable travel choice for escaping big city life for a few days.

nature domes port macquarie
Photo: Nature Domes

The urge to get as far away as possible from the incessant noise and pressures of ‘big city life’ has witnessed increasingly more of us turn to off-grid adventures for our holidays: Booking.com polled travellers at the start of 2023 and 55% of us wanted to spend our holidays ‘off-grid’.  Achieving total disconnection from the unyielding demands of our digitised lives via some kind of off-grid nature time—soft or adventurous—is positioned not only as a holiday but, indeed, a necessity for our mental health. 

Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, an accommodation collection of geodesic domes dotted across a lush rural property in Greater Port Macquarie (a few hours’ drive from Sydney, NSW), offers a travel experience that is truly ‘off-grid’. In the figurative ‘wellness travel’ sense of the word, and literally, they run on their own independent power supply—bolstered by solar—and rely not on the town grid. 

Ten minutes before you arrive at the gates for a stay at Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, your phone goes into ‘SOS ONLY’. Apple Maps gives up, and you’re pushed out of your comfort zone, driving down unsealed roads in the dark, dodging dozens of dozing cows. Then, you must ditch your car altogether and hoist yourself into an open-air, all-terrain 4WD with gargantuan wheels. It’s great fun being driven through muddy gullies in this buggy; you feel like Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park.  As your buggy pulls in front of your personal Nature Dome, it’s not far off that “Welcome…to Jurassic Park” jaw-dropping moment—your futuristic-looking home is completely engulfed by thriving native bushland; beyond the outdoor campfire lie expansive hills and valleys of green farmland, dotted with sheep and trees. You’re almost waiting to see a roaming brachiosaurus glide past, munching on a towering gum tree…instead, a few inquisitive llamas trot past your Dome to check out their new visitor. 

To fully capture the awe of inhabiting a geodesic dome for a few days, a little history of these futuristic-looking spherical structures helps. Consisting of interlocking triangular skeletal struts supported by (often transparent) light walls, geodesic domes were developed in the 20th century by American engineer and architect R. Buckminster Fuller, and were used for arenas. Smaller incarnations have evolved into a ‘future-proof’ form of modern housing: domes are able to withstand harsh elements due to the stability provided by the durable materials of their construction and their large surface area to volume ratio (which helps minimize wind impact and prevents the structure from collapsing). As housing, they’re also hugely energy efficient – their curved shape helps to conserve heat and reduce energy costs, making them less susceptible to temperature changes outside. The ample light let in by their panels further reduces the need for artificial power. 

Due to their low environmental impact, they’re an ideal sustainable travel choice. Of course, Tom’s Creek Nature Domes’ owner-operators, Cardia and Lee Forsyth, know all this, which is why they have set up their one-of-a-kind Nature Domes experience for the modern traveller. It’s also no surprise to learn that owner Lee is an electrical engineer—experienced in renewable energy—and that he designed the whole set-up. As well as the off-grid power supply, rainwater tanks are used, and the outdoor hot tub is heated by a wood fire—your campfire heats up your tub water via a large metal coil. Like most places in regional Australia, the nights get cold – but rather than blast a heater, the Domes provide you with hot water bottles, warm blankets, lush robes and heavy curtains to ward off the chill.

nature domes port macquarie
Photo: Nature Domes

You’ll need to be self-sufficient during your stay at the Domes, bringing your own food. Support local businesses and stock up in the town of Wauchope on your drive-in (and grab some pastries and coffee at Baked Culture while you’re at it). There’s a stovetop, fridge (stocked as per a mini bar), BBQs, lanterns and mozzie coils, and you can even order DIY S’More packs for fireside fun. The interiors of the Domes have a cosy, stylish fit-out, with a modern bathroom (and a proper flushing toilet—none of that drop bush toilet stuff). As there’s no mobile reception, pack a good book or make the most of treasures that lie waiting to be discovered at every turn: a bed chest full of board games, a cupboard crammed with retro DVDs, a stargazing telescope (the skies are ablaze come night time). Many of these activities are ideal for couples, but there’s plenty on offer for solo travellers, such as yoga mats, locally-made face masks and bath bombs for hot tub soaks. 

It’s these thoughtful human touches that reinforce the benefit of making a responsible travel choice by booking local and giving your money to a tourism operator in the Greater Port Macquarie Region, such as Tom’s Creek Nature Domes. The owners are still working on the property following the setbacks of COVID-19, and flooding in the region —a new series of Domes designed with families and groups in mind is under construction, along with an open-air, barn-style dining hall and garden stage. Once ready, the venue will be ideal for wedding celebrations, with wedding parties able to book out the property. They’ve already got one couple—who honeymooned at the Domes—ready and waiting. Just need to train up the llamas for ring-bearer duties! 

An abundance of favourite moments come to mind from my two-night stay at Tom’s Creek: sipping champagne and gourmet picnicking at the top of a hill on a giant swing under a tree, with a bird’s eye view of the entire property (the ‘Mountain Top picnic’ is a must-do activity add on during your stay), lying on a deckchair at night wrapped in a blanket gazing up at starry constellations and eating hot melted marshmallows, to revelling in the joys of travellers before me, scrawled on notes in a jar of wishes left by the telescope (you’re encouraged to write your own to add to the jar). But I’ll leave you with a gratitude journal entry I made while staying there. I will preface this by saying that I don’t actually keep a gratitude journal, but Tom’s Creek Nature Domes is just the kind of place that makes you want to start one. And so, waking up on my second morning at Tom’s —lacking any 4G bars to facilitate my bad habit of a morning Instagram scroll—I finally opened up a notebook and made my first journal entry:

‘I am grateful to wake up after a deep sleep and breathe in the biggest breaths of this clean air, purified by nature and scented with eucalyptus and rain. I am grateful for this steaming hot coffee brewed on a fire. I feel accomplished at having made myself. I am grateful for the skittish sheep that made me laugh as I enjoyed a long nature walk at dawn and the animated billy goats and friendly llamas overlooking my shoulder as I write this: agreeable company for any solo traveller. I’m grateful for total peace, absolute stillness.” 

Off-grid holiday status: unlocked.

Where: Tom’s Creek Nature Domes, Port Macquarie, 2001 Toms Creek Rd
Price: $450 per night, book at the Natura Domes website.

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