Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) will reopen on Boxing Day, owner David Walsh says, "provided the world and its many surprises don't intervene".
Key points:
- MONA has been closed since March in response to the coronavirus pandemic
- Owner David Walsh has announced the museum will reopen on Boxing Day
- The galleries have undergone a revamp and 400 staff will return to work
MONA closed its doors in March due to the COVID-19 — it was one of the first major attractions in the state to do so.
At the time Mr Walsh quoted Monty Python, saying: "When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled."
Now, he is urging people to come back.
When the museum reopens, Tasmanians — who have never been charged to enter MONA — will be required to pre-book their trip and make a deposit.
They will receive their deposit back providing they show up.
"We are restricted with numbers so we can't have people booking and then not showing up," a notice on MONA's website reads.
"If you do that, the cost is $10 and a lifetime of shame."
Visitors aged under 18 are not required to make a deposit but will have to book.
Giant sculpture among new attractions
Mr Walsh said during its nine-month closure, the museum's galleries had been revamped.
"We are, of course, aware that we are reopening just before our 10th anniversary, so we've dug out some old stuff to commemorate our opening," Mr Walsh said.
"We are also looking to the future."
Among the new installations will be a 7-metre-high bronze sculpture on the museum lawns, which will double as a children's playground.
The work by American artist Tom Otterness features two figures with slides for limbs.
"It's a sculpture, but at the same time you can climb on it … it's highly interactive [and] very playful," director of collections and exhibitions Nicole Durling said.
She said after making a mess of the galleries, work was now underway to put them back together before the Boxing Day re-opening.
And there were also new things to discover.
"There's always little gems throughout, some really quite extraordinary globes and atlases from the 14th and 15th century," she said.
Life returns to museum
Ms Durling said some of the museum's artworks like the Cloaca, otherwise known as the "poo machine" went into hibernation during the shutdown.
But she said life was returning to the site.
"David Walsh, he built MONA and opened it to the public and it's actually been a little lonely without visitors here," Ms Durling said.
"We're looking forward to seeing people come back because in a way it's sort of not really alive without visitors."
Staff returning to work
MONA co-CEO Mark Wilsdon said all 400 staff would return to work.
"We were able tighten up and we were able to get some things done, the JobKeeper stimulus has been very supportive in that way," he said.
"David's invested heavily in order to offer something new and something exciting for people."
He said overseas tourists accounted for 20 percent of total visitation, but he was expecting strong interest from the interstate market.
"With Victoria opening that's very positive for Tasmania because that's our gateway as well as our main source market," Mr Wilsdon said.
"We're really hoping to see a lot more local visitation."
The museum will be open four days a week from Fridays to Mondays.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTExLTI3L2hvYmFydC1tb25hLW11c2V1bS1yZW9wZW4tYm94aW5nLWRheS1jb3JvbmF2aXJ1cy1zaHV0ZG93bi8xMjkyMjQ1NtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjkyMjQ1Ng?oc=5
2020-11-26 21:00:00Z
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