Hobart’s Mona To Open in Bangkok

Anyone who’s visited Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) knows it’s anything but conventional. Since opening on the banks of the River Derwent in 2011, its provocative exhibitions, striking architecture and adventurous programming have attracted more than five million visitors.

Now, Mona is heading overseas. The museum announced via Instagram on July 10 that it will open its first international outpost in Bangkok, Thailand.

Set on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, the new art destination is a collaboration between Mona founder David Walsh and Thai property developer Asset World Corporation (AWC).

So why Bangkok? “Bangkok has extraordinary energy, a large local and international audience and an emerging contemporary art scene,” says Leigh Carmichael, CEO of Darklab, Mona’s production company, behind its midwinter arts festival Dark Mofo. “We considered projects elsewhere over the years, including in Sydney and on the Gold Coast, but Bangkok was where the right partner, site and scale of opportunity aligned.”

Scheduled to open in 2029, the Bangkok museum will be anything but a replica of its Hobart counterpart, Carmichael says. “We’re taking [Hobart’s] creative spirit into a different context and creating something new for Bangkok.

“We’ve always believed that the Mona experience can exist off-site. It’s less about a particular building or place and more about how art, architecture, music, technology and hospitality are brought together.”

While the Hobart museum is known for exploring themes of the body, sex and death – its best-known works include a machine fed daily that mimics the human digestive system, and a wall of 151 porcelain vulva sculptures – Bangkok will be centred on the idea of light, encompassing science, spirituality, technology, perception and nature.

“Light is a physical material that many artists work with and are fascinated by, but it is also a cross-cultural symbol of knowledge, revelation and hope,” Carmichael says. “Bangkok is a city of colour, illumination, reflection and contrast, and the museum’s connection to the Chao Phraya River is also deeply important.”

Visitors will arrive via a planned cable car crossing the river. The museum’s design remains in its early stages and will respond to the shape of the river.

Mona’s arrival continues a period of rapid growth for the Bangkok art scene, cementing the city as a significant global art destination. In the past year alone, the Thai capital has welcomed several major openings, including Dib Bangkok, home to James Turrell’s two-storey installation Straight Up, and Khao Yai Art Forest, a sprawling outdoor art space to the city’s north-west. Also recently established is Museum Pier on the Chao Phraya River, while prominent New York art dealer Harper Levine opened a Bangkok branch.

“There are already extraordinary institutions, artists, curators and collectors across the region,” Carmichael says. “What we can contribute is a different kind of museum experience – immersive, unpredictable and less bound by traditional museum conventions.

“We hope the museum creates opportunities for Thai artists through commissions, exhibitions, collaborations and cultural exchange, while building connections with international artists and audiences.”