Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)

The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) opened in 2011 on the Berriedale Peninsula north of central Hobart, Tasmania, its galleries cut directly into roughly 250-million-year-old sandstone laid down when Tasmania was still part of the supercontinent Gondwana. Founded by professional gambler and collector David Walsh, MONA is the largest privately funded museum in Australia. The museum is known for staging antiquities and contemporary art side by side in subterranean, often dimly lit galleries, and for an unconventional approach that has made it a major draw for visitors to Tasmania. It also anchors the winter arts festival Dark Mofo, held in Hobart each June. MONA continues to expand, with new wings and excavated spaces extending the museum deeper into the peninsula and into the geology that defines its setting.