New Year’s Revelry at MONA

Media release – MONA, 12 December 2023

NEW YEAR, SAME US

This summer, over 500 local, interstate and international musical acts are Berriedale bound. MONA will see artists and bands from a broad range of genres—spanning jazz to interstellar space rock to grime—playing on the museum’s lawns, popping up in galleries and unexpected venues, with a countdown to 2024 kicking off this celebration of sound.

Brian Ritchie, Artistic Director, Music at MONA and MONA FOMA, says: ‘Every day MONA is open, there’s music. In several different venues and a recording studio. Our partnership with Music TAS on New Year’s Eve exemplifies our mutual commitment to fostering all styles of original Tasmanian contemporary music, ranging from hip-hop, to punk, to things that are better off unlabelled and undescribed. This is your chance to support local music if you are Tasmanian or experience it if you are an outlandish foreigner. Not to mention excellent things to munch and quaff and an infinity (OK maybe just heaps) of potential dance partners.’

MONA’s annual night of New Year’s Eve revelry is returning to the lawns, celebrating the death of the year and the birth of a new one. Presented in partnership with Music Tasmania, 2023 will close out with an overflowing all-Tasmanian line-up celebrating a selection of established and emerging artists from across the state—Wombat, Slaughterhäus Surf Cult, Bec Stevens, WÖØLWORTHS\\FLUSHOT, RABBIT, Golden Sunbird, and Warren Mason. Guests are encouraged to arrive at MONA by water, with the MONA Roma ferry (and its onboard bars) running throughout the evening. MONA’s burger bar, Dubsy’s, will serve up its diner-inspired specialities, with drinks aplenty available from Moorilla and Moo Brew.

Carrying us into and out of the festive haze is MONA’s daily music on the lawns—year-round, free and diverse—showcasing multiple acts each day, there’ll be something to suit every ear. Highlights include ​​Troth, EWAH & The Vision of Paradise, Brothers Of Country, Stormworm and Tasha Zappala.

MONA’s Festival of Music and Art, MONA FOMA, is returning in February 2024 for its sixteenth edition. The program is a celebration of music, unpredictable art, world premieres, and a thrilling array of Tassie exclusives throughout venues in nipaluna / Hobart and Launceston.

MONA Presents offers an intimate after-hours listening experience in the Nolan Gallery, showcasing a selection of intriguing artists. Lined up so far for 2024: Robert Forster, Lydia Lunch and Joseph Keckler, and—presented as part of Cygnet Folk Festival—Riley Lee, Sweden’s Northern Resonance and Clare Sands.

Within the depths of the museum, MONA’s artists-in-residence are on display creating new works each day. Ensconced in gallery spaces, Danny Healy will compose jazz by hand and Ben Salter will show off his ‘titanium tonsils’, both with afternoon performances for visitors who stumble upon them this summer.

Visitors can also witness the creative process in action at Frying Pan, MONA’s spectacular recording studio. A living, breathing space to create art—surrounded by art—in real time, the studio houses a historic mixing desk and welcomes musicians from all over the world. A viewing window from the library offers a sneak peek as artists immerse themselves in a creative environment like no other.

The MONA Ensemble is an in-house collective of twenty-two musicians and performers, most likely to be witnessed creating aural magic in Faro—a restaurant of continual reinvention—visitors can also expect to discover them unleashing their talents across the site.

Ahead of New Year’s Eve, MONA will extend its trading days for the summer period, opening five days a week—from Thursdays to Mondays, 10am–6pm daily—beginning Thursday 28 December.

Featured image above: Midnight Oil at MONA Lawns, MONA FOMA 2022. Image courtesy of the artist, Jesse Hunniford and MONA FOMA.