Stanley Burbury, 5.30pm, Wednesday Sept 3: The Making of MONA

Take a peek behind the scenes at MONA

The incredible (and improbable) story behind the establishment of Australia’s most exciting museum will be outlined at a public lecture in Hobart tomorrow evening (Wednesday 3 September).

Sociologist and design expert Professor Adrian Franklin will present The Making of the MONA Effect, the inside story of how David Walsh’s tourism magnet came to be.

This free public event, hosted by the University of Tasmania’s newly established Institute for the Study of Social Change, will also promote Professor Franklin’s latest book The Making of MONA, which is due to be published in hardback internationally by Penguin on October 22.

With a degree of access rarely granted outsiders, Professor Franklin traces MONA’s origins, its architectural and building processes, and the branding and curatorial approach.

Professor Franklin is in the midst of a four-year, Australian Research Council-funded study to examine the extraordinary success of this venture. Partner organisations include the Queensland University of Technology, the University of Melbourne, the State Government, and the Hobart and Glenorchy councils.

“The ultimate aim is to develop a strategic framework within which to organise city and state marketing, visitor experience, arts and creative industry development and other major infrastructural projects that are of mutual benefit to all partner organisations and which extends benefits to the culture and economy of Tasmania,” he explains.

The Making of the MONA Effect will be presented in the University’s Stanley Burbury Theatre from 5.30pm tomorrow, Wednesday, 3 September.
Communications and Media Office, University of Tasmania