MONA, Museum of Old and New Art

MONA opened in 2011 at Berriedale, on a spur of land in the Derwent estuary about half an hour north of Hobart. Most of it is underground: you enter at the top and descend three levels cut into the sandstone, so the galleries have no windows and little natural orientation. The collection mixes Egyptian and Roman antiquities with contemporary work chosen for provocation as much as for beauty, and the labelling is unconventional, delivered through a device rather than wall text. The site also holds a winery, a brewery, gardens and a tennis court, and the museum runs music and arts festivals in summer and midwinter. The ferry from the Hobart waterfront is the standard approach.

What you actually see

• The descent - the spiral stair and lift down three floors into sandstone, with the rock face left exposed.
• The antiquities beside contemporary work - coffins and Roman coins hung in the same rooms as new installations.
• The ferry - the half-hour run up the Derwent, with the museum arriving from the water rather than the road.
• The grounds - lawns, gardens and outdoor pieces above the galleries, with views back down the estuary.

When to go

Open most days but closed on some weekdays outside summer, so check before committing a day. The midwinter festival in June draws large crowds and books out months ahead. Summer is easier weather but busier galleries. Mornings are quieter than afternoons. The ferry runs to a timetable, so plan the return before you go down into the galleries.

Honest expectations

Admission is expensive by Australian museum standards and the ferry costs extra. A good deal of the work is sexually explicit or scatological and is not suitable for children, which the museum states plainly rather than apologising for. The underground layout is deliberately disorienting and some visitors find it exhausting rather than interesting. Popular pieces rotate out without notice, so a specific work may not be there.

Nearby

Hobart's waterfront and the Saturday market at Salamanca are half an hour south.