Weekends with MONA in 2012
HobartChoose from three dates in 2012:
Thu 08 – Sun 11 March 2012
Thu 09 – Sun 12 August 2012
Thu 04 – Sun 07 October 2012
(4 days / 3 nights)
Enjoy a luxury weekend of stimulating art, gourmet food and fine Tasmanian wine, with exclusive use of Hobart’s boutique, historic Islington Hotel, recently restored and set in a delightful garden with stunning views of Mount Wellington.
The highlight will be a visit to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Australia’s latest and most ambitious experiment in art curatorship, offering a unique and somewhat eccentric museum experience. The new museum is the brainchild of the multi-millionaire David Walsh and is dramatically carved out of a sandstone cliff and cleverly concealed beneath a grassy hill. Inside the three storeyed underground structure, designed by Melbourne architect, Nonda Katsalidis, Walsh offers his extraordinary private collection to the visitor, creating an adventure in seeing, his “subversive adult Disneyland”, in which he deliberately stimulates lively discussion and debate about the very nature of art.
In addition to the art each weekend package includes a concert in the ballroom of Epsom House, one of the oldest houses in Australia, located in Pontville just outside Hobart.
Book early - places are strictly limited.
ITINERARY:
Day 01 - Thursday Arrive Hobart
Arrive in Hobart and check-in to the exclusive Islington Hotel. Tonight enjoy a welcome dinner with Jackie De Diana and fellow art lovers at Peppermint Bay located 40 minutes south of Hobart in the picturesque township of Woodbridge. Nestled between the D’entrecasteaux Channel and the seclusion of the Huon Valley, the restaurant has wonderful panoramic views of the bay. (D)
Day 02 – Friday Hobart
After breakfast visit MONA - the Museum of Old and New Art, located on a private peninsula on the Derwent River, and part of the Moorilla Estate. Opened in January 2011, it is the largest privately funded museum in the southern hemisphere housing antiquities, modern and contemporary art from the David Walsh collection.
Enjoy a degustation lunch accompanied by matching wines at The Source Restaurant, the contemporary, glass-walled restaurant on the estate, featuring the best produce from Tasmania’s finest boutique farms.
The afternoon is at leisure to remain at the museum. Return to Hobart under own arrangements by ferry or taxi. Evening at leisure. (BL)
Day 03 – Saturday Hobart
Start the day with a visit to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Tasmania’s leading natural, cultural and heritage organisation. It is a combined museum, art gallery and herbarium which safeguards the physical evidence of Tasmania’s natural and cultural heritage, and the cultural identity of Tasmanians.
There will be free time for lunch (at own expense) and to wander around the famous Salamanca Markets where some of the best arts and crafts, food and flowers produced in Tasmania are displayed.
Later visit Narryna Heritage Museum, a handsome Georgian house set in a picturesque, old-world setting. Experience the elegant lifestyle of a prosperous Hobart merchant and his family in the 19th century. Remainder of the afternoon at leisure.
Tonight attend a concert held at Epsom House, one of the oldest houses in Australia, located in the tiny town of Pontville. The owners, Jacqui and Geoff Robertson organise intimate concerts in the ballroom of their lovingly restored home. Enjoy a pre-concert supper followed by a chamber concert (program to be advised). (BD)
Day 04 – Sunday Depart Hobart
Tour arrangements conclude after breakfast. (B)
YOUR HOTEL:
THE ISLINGTON HOTEL
Built in 1847, the Islington is a small luxury hotel in Hobart, decorated with fine art and furnished with antiques, presented in an atmosphere of serenity, luxury and tranquillity. The Islington is an outstanding example of Hobart’s Regency architecture, recently restored to showcase the property’s original glory and up-dated to include such modern amenities as a glass enclosed mountain-view pavilion.
The Islington has eleven sumptuously furnished guest rooms many with distinct characters that reflect an eclectic mix of a bygone era coupled with contemporary comfort.
Visit www.islingtonhotel.com
