Mona's First-Ever Old Art Exhibition and Jónsi's Volcano Simulation Are Your New Excuses to Hit Tasmania

It's called the Museum of Old and New Art. As that name makes plain, it fills its walls and halls with examples of pieces that've been around for some time (and then some more) alongside fresh creations. And yet, Tasmania's must-visit Mona hasn't ever hosted an exhibition that only looks backwards — until September 2023 rolls around, that is.

Fresh from unleashing another Dark Mofo upon Hobart, complete with an astonishing array of weird and wild wonders, the arts institution has unveiled its big summer plans to see out 2023 and welcome in 2024. Spanning the bulk of spring this year and autumn next year, too — running from Saturday, September 30, 2023–Monday, April 1, 2024 — are three exhibitions: Jean-Luc Moulène and Teams, Heavenly Beings: Icons of the Christian Orthodox World and Hrafntinna (Obsidian).

Heading to Australia after showing in a different iteration at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Heavenly Beings: Icons of the Christian Orthodox World is responsible for the venue's debut display of only old art. It'll also be the biggest-ever showcase of jewel-like icons and related treasures that Australia has ever seen. Devotional objects depicting saints, virgins and other Christian holy subjects will be in the spotlight — more than 140 of them — as Mona dives into spiritual and aesthetic traditions covering centuries, what drives human behaviour and our motivations as earthbound beings.

"Visitors certainly need not be religious believers to enjoy the sheer beauty and emotional power of these artworks. While painting an icon may begin from an act of piety, the resulting object also lives as a work of art far beyond its original purpose," explains Mona curator Jane Clark.

"We can look at the icon as a 'window into heaven', as believers believe, but also as a looking glass, through which we may glimpse the deeper purposes — deeper than awe and transcendence, than culture or a higher power — that are served by human creativity."

Proskynetarion or Pilgrim's Memento of the Holy Sepulchre within the City of Jerusalem. Palestine, c. 1795. Collection Museum of Old and New Art (Mona), Hobart.

With Jean-Luc Moulène and Teams, Mona will also become a temporary home to French artist Jean-Luc Moulène's debut Australian exhibition. Four newly commissioned sculptural objects will feature, alongside some of Moulène's earlier works. So, get ready for new pieces using wax, metal, Triassic sandstone and timber from Tasmanian underwater forests, plus piles of coloured cans and large-scale video projections.

"Jean-Luc Moulène has been described as mercurial, experimental, erudite and poetic. His ideas evolve through a deep and considered engagement with material, form, and process. The resulting objects are at once mysteriously beautiful, and forthright about the means of their making," notes Mona curator Sarah Wallace.

Photo Credit: Mona/Jesse Hunniford. Image Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Completing this trilogy — Mona's second in a row, after opening three showcases simultaneously in 2022, too — is Hrafntinna (Obsidian). Thanks to Sigur Rós vocalist Jónsi, attendees will get a volcano experience inspired by Fagradalsfjall in Iceland, which erupted in 2021 after almost eight centuries of being dormant.

This immersive and sensory installation is designed to make visitors feel like they're entering a lava-spewing rupture's depths, using music, sound, smell and almost total darkness. Nearly 200 speakers will vibrate, while a hymn-style composition that takes its cues from Icelandic choral music will play.

"Jónsi was compelled by the thought of experiencing this incredibly rare event. He wanted to recreate the phenomenon and capture the essence of what it might feel like to be deep inside the volcano, despite the obstacles of distance and logistics," says Wallace.

Hrafntinna (Obsidian), 2021, Jónsi. Installation view, Obsidian, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, 2021. Photo by Pierre Le Hors. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.

Jean-Luc Moulène and Teams, Heavenly Beings: Icons of the Christian Orthodox World and Hrafntinna (Obsidian) will all display at Mona, 655 Main Road, Berriedale, Hobart, Tasmania, from Saturday, September 30, 2023–Monday, April 1, 2024.

Top image: Hrafntinna (Obsidian), 2021, Jónsi. Installation view, Obsidian, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York, 2021. Photo by Pierre Le Hors. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.

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