MONA BREAKS SHACKLES

MONA’S newest section will throw open its doors to the public more than four months after the internationally acclaimed museum closed up shop.

Mona’s award-winning bar and restaurant, Faro, will reopen from August 15 for six weeks for a series of lunch and dinner experiences, along with live music, performance and art.

Coined the “Faro Experiments”, diners are told to expect the unexpected, with a mystery menu — from drinks to dessert — changing every week and the theme revealed to guests only once they are seated.

The luxe dinner experience prepared by renowned Mona chef Vince Trim will set you back $350 a person, with a scaled-back version at $100 plus the a la carte lunch menu.

Diners will be able to explore areas of the museum’s Pharos wing, featuring a corridor of colour, a man-made oil slick and a silvery grotto.

Mona’s outdoor light installaFaro, tions will also be operating, including Ryoji Ikeda’s spectra, which has lit up Hobart’s skies every Saturday night since Easter.

Co-CEO Mark Wilsdon said diners would have Mona to themselves, although the remainder of the museum would still be closed.

“From the greeting on arrival, to the food and drinks, and music and art, this is an opportunity for us to experiment on our guests at and for our local visitors to experience the restaurant anew,” he said.

Collections and exhibitions director Nicole Durling said up to 40 guests at a time could “escape the outside world”.

“David and Kirsha are so excited to be awakening Mona up from its hibernation and this is the first step towards that,” she said.

“I’ve seen some of the sample menus and they’ll be nothing short of extraordinary, with a little bit of Vince’s sense of humour in there as well.

“There won’t be any invasive species on the menu, but Vince always brings something quite unique.”

She said the team had been reflecting on the collection in the closed main section of the museum.

“We’ve been looking at the collection deeply and we’re experimenting with it — we’re still working through it and thinking about it, but we’re really excited about the (10th) anniversary.”

jessica.howard@news.com.au