ABSTRACT
The Museum of Old and New Art opened on 22 January 2011 in Hobart, on the island state of Tasmania, off the southeastern coast of Australia. For many it is a very remote place, some 8,766 km from Tokyo, 16,619 km from New York, and 17,391 km from London. It is handy for Antarctica though, a mere 2,640 km away. When Mona opened, it caught the eye of the art world press immediately: every major arts magazine, journal and newspaper despatched reporters south who filed a series of breathless accolades. It was also praised by major museum directors, art critics and academics. Building and funding Mona to the tune of approximately 100 million dollars, David Walsh looked on perplexed and disappointed as the accolades rolled in. He had hoped that his thorough and irreverent reversal of the conventional art museum would draw fire, controversy and scandal, and, in a way, that was a reasonable expectation.
