Museum of Old and New Art, Art museum in Hobart, Australia.
The Museum of Old and New Art is an art museum in Hobart, Tasmania, built across three underground floors that display a wide range of artworks. The rooms extend through natural sandstone and wind downward in a spiral, with each floor connected by a central circular staircase.
David Walsh opened the facility in 2011 on the grounds of his winery, after running a smaller private collection in the same location. The underground spaces were carved directly into the cliffs along the Derwent River to protect artworks from natural light.
Visitors move through dimly lit galleries where light is carefully directed to highlight individual works, making the architecture itself part of the artistic experience. The building encourages exploration without wall labels, using handheld devices instead to let people discover information as they choose.
A ferry from central Hobart brings visitors directly to the site in roughly 30 minutes, and the facility opens most days except Tuesday. The galleries are climate controlled and accessible, with lifts complementing the staircases throughout.
Part of the collection rotates through a lottery system where an algorithm decides which works go on display. This means no two visits are the same, and some pieces may remain in storage for years.
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