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Published: February 12th 2012
We decided to go our separate ways this morning, so whilst I visited the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Dean did a tour of the Cascade Brewery.
Established in 1832, the Cascade Brewery is Australia’s oldest brewery. Dean managed to get the last remaining spot on the tour and learn all about the growing and preparation of the hops. They produce 10 different types of beer, some of which are for consumption only within Tasmania. They are actually able produce 800 bottles of beer in one hour! Of course, the best part of the tour was the drinks at the end!
MONA was just amazing. The brainchild of Tasmanian professional gambler and art collector David Walsh, it opened just outside of Hobart one year ago. It has a very modern, upmarket and tailored feel to it. It’s a huge development and, aside from the art museum, they have their own brewery, vineyard, luxury accommodation, restaurant and wine room. I suspect that they added some token old pieces of art (mainly from Egypt) to make up the “O” on MONA. There is certainly mostly modern art on display. There are no wall plaques in the gallery, so you
are given an i-phone device which tracks your location and tells you all about the pieces of art in your vicinity. You can even indicate “love” or “hate” for each piece. I fell in love with the work of Belgian neo-conceptual artist Wim Delvoye. He has created stunning metallic sculptures, extraordinary carved truck tyres and the very interesting Cloaca – a series of devices that imitate the human digestive system! My love for his work took a significant nose dive when I entered a room showing video footage of live pigs that he had tattooed. The dead animals’ skins were also displayed in the gallery… Even though this pig “art” farm was located in Beijing, I can hardly believe it was permitted. Thankfully, it closed in 2008 and Delvoye moved to China after a court of law judged his pig tattoo art projects illegal.
After picnicking on the giant beanbags in MONA’s garden and stocking up on groceries and fuel, it was time for us to leave Hobart. We had hoped to visit Mount Wellington (the city’s picturesque 1250m backdrop) but time was not on our side and we only had five and a half days to see the
East Cost of the island. So we headed South East through Sorell and a handful of tiny countryside villages to White Beach, just 10km short of Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula. After a walk along the beach, we unpacked and christened our new travel scrabble (thanks so much, Cal & Nic, for our xmas present!).
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Deidre Crouher
non-member comment
Tassy!
Looks like your having a great time. I completely agree with you about Mona. It was a bit bitter sweet, amazing art but it definitely pushes the boundaries. I think there is something for everyone to love and for everyone to disagree with. I am so pleased you enjoyed Tassy, i love it there! Beautiful!