Saturday February 24, 2024
Day 5: Salamanca Market and MONA
Saturday dawned bright and a bit chilly but with a promise to warm during the day. After a simple breakfast, we made the walk into town to visit the Salamanca Market, which is held every Saturday.
Salamanca Market has over 300 vendors who offer a wide variety of products, from local crafts, artisanal alcohol and beer, food, and other items. It runs the entire length of Salamanca Place and took us almost two hours to explore. The market is packed with both locals and tourists. The market claims that it is the most popular tourist attraction in Hobart. It was great fun to talk to the vendors, peruse the offerings, taste local beer and try some wonderful food.
Not surprisingly, one of my favourite stalls was the Tasmanian Chilli Beer Co. They make their own ginger beer, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. The vendor told me that alcoholic ginger beer is quite popular in Tasmania and Australia as a whole. They offered four types of each category of ginger beer. Some of the beers are quite strong, either infused with Thai chilli or strong ginger. It was fun to taste all four and in the end I chose Local Mule, a very gingery alcoholic beverage.
Salamanca Market is one of the best local markets I have attended. The wide range of offerings and the quality of the products is second to none. And if food is your goal, the market has a wide array of food trucks offering everything from hot dogs to paella. It was a really fun way to start to the day.
After lunch, we made our way over to the piers to board the ferry to MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. The museum lies 13 km up the Derwent River from Hobart. To get to the museum, you must take a 25 minute ferry ride, upon the MONA-ROMA. This isn't any ordinary ferry, it is a camouflaged coloured vessel with a bar, food service and two levels of seating. You can even sit on a sheep if that is to your liking. The trip up the Derwent River gave us a chance to see Hobart and its surroundings from the water. As the weather. was warm , we sat outside and enjoyed the ride and the views.
The museum itself is unlike any other art museum I have ever been to. When you reach the entrance, you are greeted by huge carnival like mirrors, like you would find at a carnival fun house. You descend into the museum walking or riding down 3 stories to the basement. The art has no labels or plaques to identify what they are. You are encouraged to download a free app, that guides you around and lets you know what art you are looking at. The art ranges from artefacts from antiquity to modern art installations. The subjects are religious, serious, profane and ridiculous. The museum invites you to explore and immerse yourself into the art. You will be using all your senses all the time. The app encourages you to record whether you like or dislike a piece, and to leave a comment on the app ( I did neither). During portions of my visit , I was left with a sense of awe. The exhibition of icons from the Eastern Rites of Christianity were beautiful. At other points you are left bewildered, especially with the "poo machine". Some art made me ponder and be curious, especially some of the light installations. The building itself is a wonder. You wander and encounter exhibits at many turns as you wander thru this maze like building. It is clear that the museum tries to be anything but an art museum. It does not take itself too seriously. In fact, it attempts to make art accessible and in some ways questions how we approach art and the way we present it. I could easily have spent the whole day here. As it was , we toured most of the museum, listened to a a short jazz performance. and wandered the grounds for four hours. I had many favourite pieces but below I offer a few, even including a Picasso !
Also for more information ,the web site gives a better description of the aims of its founder, David Walsh and the mission of the museum.
Another full day, and we have half a day in Hobart tomorrow before we head off to Port Arthur tomorrow afternoon.
