David Walsh, the multi-millionaire professional gambler behind Australia's largest privately owned museum, the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart, Tasmania, opens a new wing called Phrontisterion this weekend. Costing an estimated A$100m ($70m), it is the largest construction project in Mona's 15-year history, increasing display space from 8,440 sq. m to roughly 12,640 sq. m. The wing includes Walsh's 'dream library', new permanent installations by artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Julian Charrière, Matthew Barney, and Joshua Yeldham, as well as works by 17th-century cartographer Willem Blaeu. Notable additions include Charrière's Breathe, which lets visitors inhale oxygen from ancient iron ore, and Kiefer's inverted concrete pyramid Elektra (2025), reconstructed from his outdoor studio in France.
The expansion underscores Mona's evolution from a controversial, privately funded venture into a must-visit global art destination over the past 15 years. Walsh originally aimed to 'actively re-educate people about how to use a museum', and the new wing continues that mission with its eclectic mix of contemporary art, antiquities, and immersive installations. The project's scale and cost—exceeding the original museum's A$75m—signal Walsh's sustained commitment to pushing boundaries in museum design and programming, while also highlighting the growing cultural significance of Tasmania as a hub for ambitious contemporary art.