Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
A city on the Derwent.
An introduction to Hobart and the river that brings most visitors to MONA.
On this page
Read the river
Hobart sits on the River Derwent, and MONA lies upriver on the Berriedale peninsula. Catamarans run between Brooke Street Pier in the city and the museum in about 30 minutes.
A guide can give context without turning a place into a backdrop. Notice how the museum sits low against the cliffs, and how the river shapes the way you arrive.
Rock and darkness
Much of MONA is built into the cliffs, with galleries below ground and no windows. You arrive at ground level and go down before you go up.
Begin with a detail and ask how it was made and maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you who cut the rock or built the galleries, or the conditions in which they worked.
A MONA chapter
MONA shows a different side of Hobart: a private museum at a riverside winery, reached by boat and built largely underground.
Look at the meeting of the two: the quiet lawns and vines above, and the dark galleries below.
Make room for context
Pair this reading with the museum’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places or represents the artists.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
