Leigh Carmichael
No, we’ll create a whole new collection. So we’ll be responsible for commissioning and buying and securing the work. We may, because this is such a long deal, we may co-commission. So in the future, it might look like an exhibition opens in Bangkok, and then parts of it or all of it could travel to Hobart or vice versa. Or we might just share the odd work here and there. But we’ll be working hand in hand, and we will have an operating role as well. Although the most intense period for us, I think, will be this design and development phase.

Ryk Goddard
So what’s the TAS government’s involvement in it? Because the Premier is saying this will be good for Tassie tourism. But I wonder, does that mean you could go to Bangkok, do MONA, tick it off, and not have to come south?

Leigh Carmichael
I don’t think so. I think MONA will always be our home, and that’s where David Walsh’s collection will always be. I think it will shine a spotlight on MONA as a brand. Not everyone will come, but it certainly is not going to hurt to have like a lighthouse in Bangkok, which is pretty central in Asia. It’s an amazing location, a really vibrant city. So I think it will do really good things for us. But the question around the government’s involvement, really important government-to-government relationship. They assisted and were really instrumental in getting AWC along to visit MONA last year. And they also took AWC out to meet with other tourism and produce providers in the state. So we actually export quite a bit of our product there. So yeah, the role of the government is actually not insignificant in all of this. And I did see the Premier getting beaten up online. I thought it was pretty unfair, to be honest. Premiers get kicked, but I was like, ah, geez, you know, it’s pretty hard. This is probably the biggest cultural export in Australia’s history. And I think it’s something we all should be celebrating. And it takes all of us, it’s a team effort to make these things happen. So, and the government have just played their role and I’m really grateful for it. So I thought that was a bit disappointing.

Ryk Goddard
And Leigh Carmichael, I mean, that is the real story, is that the model of this museum is so successful that someone has looked all over the world and then haven’t gone to the Guggenheim and gone, oh, we want Guggenheim Bangkok. They want MONA Bangkok. And that’s a Tasmanian cultural export and an Australian export. Tell us Leigh about the theme, light, very different than the sex and death theme of MONA Hobart. So how did you come to that theme and how do you wanna explore it with artists there?

Leigh Carmichael
Well, in a similar way that we do with Dark Mofo, we work with artists who are exploring those themes and we present them and let the audience make of it what they will. But I feel it really come out of our visit. I was lucky, I’ve been lucky enough to spend a few weeks there now, deeply Buddhist traditions, thousands and thousands of temples right through Bangkok. But, and it is, as reported, I think, in the Australian, quite a conservative culture. So, I don’t think going there and doing what we’ve done in Hobart is the right model. I also think it needs something different. So I feel like this is an opportunity to do both sides of the coin. And I don’t actually think there will be MONAs popping up all over the world. I kind of think, it might be this, light in Bangkok, darkness in Hobart, two sides of the equator. I think that’s just a really beautiful synergy there. And there are a lot of artists around the world working with light and light, not just in the physical kind of phenomena, but also metaphorically for peace and hope. And so, yeah, I think that we’ll make it a distinct experience, which will mean it will be worth visiting both. And yeah, we’ll see how it plays out.