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Australian houses, from architectural masterpieces to suburban family homes, Victorian terraces, mid-century marvels, coastal shacks, city apartments, and everything in between.
Award-winning Australian architecture, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top architects.
Award-winning Australian interior design, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top designers.
In depth features on Australia’s most beautiful gardens and landscape design.
Studio visits with Australia’s most talented creatives, from artists to architects, ceramicists to stylists, furniture makers to lighting designers.
Studio visits with Australia’s top artists, and unmissable art exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and beyond.
Weekly recipes and meal ideas from our favourite cooks, authors and foodies.
Unique travel destinations, design-led accomodation and day trip ideas in Australia and New Zealand.
Australian houses, from architectural masterpieces to suburban family homes, Victorian terraces, mid-century marvels, coastal shacks, city apartments, and everything in between.
Award-winning Australian architecture, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top architects.
Award-winning Australian interior design, inspiring homes, and interviews with Australia’s top designers.
In depth features on Australia’s most beautiful gardens and landscape design.
Studio visits with Australia’s most talented creatives, from artists to architects, ceramicists to stylists, furniture makers to lighting designers.
Studio visits with Australia’s top artists, and unmissable art exhibitions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and beyond.
Weekly recipes and meal ideas from our favourite cooks, authors and foodies.
Unique travel destinations, design-led accomodation and day trip ideas in Australia and New Zealand.
OK so this week is a bit of a first for The Design Files - it's a whole week of posts inspired by my recent trip to TASMANIA! I figured, since everyone and their dog is talking about visiting MONA (AND YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST GO before the current exhibition ends in July!), that it would be useful to highlight a few other lovely Tassie-based happenings for you to check out if and when you visit!
SO I hope you enjoy your virtual holiday in Hobart this week! You'll be treated to a unique Hobart shopping / walking guide, a look inside one very gorgeous Hobart home, an interview with Tassie-based photographer Sean Fennessy, and many more Tasmania-inspired tip-offs! I must thank many people who kindly shared their local knowledge - Catherine of Little Glowing Lights who photographed this week's Hobart Home for us, Sarah K who lived in Tassie many moons ago, Megan Morton who shared some secrets, TDF's lovely occasional helper Miriam McGarry who grew up in Hobart and had some great recommendations... and so many Tweeters who sent me to their favourite cafes and shops during my visit! Thankyou!
OF COURSE the week has to start with a little look at Hobart's newest and most talked about attraction - the Museum of Old and New Art! Many of the incredible photographs below have been kindly shared by photographer Sean Fennessy, who documented the amazing MONA opening party back in January. Thanks so much Sean! (You will get to learn a little more about Sean on Friday!)
MONA is quite frankly the most amazing and utterly unique art gallery I've ever been in. Entirely self-funded (apparently to the tune of $175 MILLION!) by Tasmanian-born eccentric millionaire and philanthropist David Walsh, the gallery was intended, in Walsh's own words, to be a 'subversive adult Disneyland'. Mission accomplished! AMAZINGLY, Walsh paid for the project with money earned as a professional gambler. Well I never.
It's lucky there are no tax payer dollars here, because there's little chance Mr Walsh would have had his way if he had a funding body to answer to! MONA houses an eclectic, at times controversial, but always entertaining collection of works - from ancient Egyptian relics to eyebrow-raising contemporary installation, and paintings by revered local heroes such as Sidney Nolan. The work is curated and hung in the most brilliantly indecipherable way (no chronology here), and there are no labels on any of the artwork. Instead every visitor is given an iTouch audio device that offers insightful, cheeky and unexpected commentary, keeping you giggling and wide-eyed with wonder as you explore all three subterranean floors of the gallery.
The Design Files acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past and present.
First Nations artists, designers, makers, and creative business owners are encouraged to submit their projects for coverage on The Design Files. Please email bea@thedesignfiles.net
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