Hobart Crowds Flock to MONA Exhibition Following Major Telstra Outage

The Museum of Old and New Art opened its latest exhibition on 8 July with more than 2,400 visitors through the doors in the first day alone.

The show comes at a moment when connectivity failures have left many Tasmanians reflecting on daily routines that rely on steady mobile and internet service. The Telstra outage that hit triple-zero calls and train networks across the state last week left residents without access to booking apps and streaming services for several hours, prompting renewed talk about face-to-face gatherings instead.

Venues drawing crowds this week

Lines formed early outside MONA on the Derwent River foreshore while additional foot traffic spilled into nearby Salamanca Place, where market stalls reported higher sales of takeaway coffee and local prints. The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra also noted a spike in walk-up inquiries for its upcoming chamber series at Federation Concert Hall, with several patrons mentioning they wanted to secure seats in person after phone lines stayed jammed during the outage.

Organisers at MONA said the exhibition features works built around everyday objects like a single goldfish bowl and looped footage of scrolling screens, directly echoing themes raised in recent Melbourne displays but staged with Tasmanian artists using local river stones and salvaged Telstra equipment casings.

Numbers behind the interest

Advance ticket data released by MONA showed adult entry priced at $22, with 1,850 tickets sold online before doors opened on 8 July. A further 550 visitors paid on site, pushing the daily total past the venue’s previous mid-week record set in March 2025. The same figures indicate that 38 percent of buyers listed Hobart postcodes, suggesting strong local uptake rather than tourist traffic alone.

Residents planning to visit can check MONA’s website for timed entry slots released each morning or head to the Salamanca Place ticket office before 10am to avoid queues that have formed daily since opening. The exhibition runs through 12 October with free entry for under-18s on Thursdays.