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Leaving Curringa farm we headed for Hobart. Only a couple hours a day and an easy drive. A few of the highlights of our visit:
1) A half day visit at MONA (the Museum of Old and New Art). The patron (owner) made his money using a gambling system (millions of dollars by counting cards) and as far as I could see has no art bonafides whatsoever, He just collects and displays what he likes.
MONA definitely some of the most unusual pieces I have ever seen. If you think Dali might have had mental issues, the art in one section of MONA which is the product of seers, psychics, and spiritualists makes him look tame in comparison. It defines the opposite end of the art spectrum from realism. But it gave me plenty of opportunities to think about how one defines "art".
2) We spent Saturday morning at the weekly Salamanca market (over 300 stalls).
3) We walked through through the founding neighborhood on battery point.
4) We saw the Mawson hut recreation. Mawson was an antarctic explorer who spent 2 years in a small hut with 18 other men collecting data on weather, magnetic fields, and the antarctic continent. He was a scientist, not a glory seeker. On his last outing before they were to leave, he lost his 2 companions and stumbled back to the hill just behind the hut just as the expedition supply ship was steaming away the season. Six men had volunteered to stay back and look for him and so the 7 of them got to spend a third year at the camp. It is the windiest place on earth (winds averaging 75 MPH) and once a gust of over 200 MPH was recorded. It makes one marvel at the drive of the men that undertook those expeditions.
5) And finally we visited the Tasmanian StateMuseum. There was a special exhibit on the Tasmanian Devil and a great collection of aboriginal art.
Next time, sailing and walking.
Sounds like a very interesting place!
ReplyDeleteI'll think of that place in Antarctica the next time we have 30 MPH winds
ReplyDelete