MONA: In Absence
Cultural consultancy for In Absence at MONA, connecting a major First Nations artwork with Palawa Country through community engagement, local interpretation and a proposed garden of cultural foods, medicine and resources.
CULTURAL CONSULTANT ● CONSULTANCY, DESIGN & STRATEGY ● NIPALUNA/HOBART, TASMANIA ● 2025-26
I was engaged by the Museum of Old and New Art to help connect In Absence with the cultural landscape and lived experience of Palawa people in Lutruwita/Tasmania. Created by Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office, the work offered an opportunity to bring local community knowledge into the museum’s interpretation of the artwork and its relationship with the surrounding Country.
My role involved cultural advice and liaison, the development of a community engagement and opportunity strategy and conversations between the artist, museum staff and Palawa community members. Together, we identified paid opportunities for community contributions to the work’s interpretation and opening, alongside a proposed native garden grounded in cultural plant use.
THE COMMISSION
The commission grew from my existing cultural consultancy with DarkLab and a referral from another member of the Palawa community. I was introduced to MONA’s curatorial team, Jarrod Rawlins and Sarah Wallace, as the museum prepared to install In Absence following its acquisition.
The brief was to develop a community engagement strategy that would inform how the artwork responded to its new setting. MONA wanted the work to connect with the local Palawa community, encouraging a sense of ownership and pride in the stories it brought into the museum.
I developed a cultural engagement roadmap and facilitated conversations across the project team and community. This provided a way to identify who should be involved, how their knowledge could inform the project and where commissioning and procurement opportunities could create meaningful participation and engagement.
COUNTRY AND CULTURE
MONA sits on a headland extending into the Timtumili Minunya/Derwent River, on Country that holds deep cultural significance. For many in our community, being here on this Country brings a strong response. I wanted that relationship to inform the work as it found a home in lutruwita.
In Absence challenges colonial accounts that erase Aboriginal knowledge and achievement. Its concerns have a close relationship with our experiences as Palawa people, including the ways our presence and knowledge have been denied. For me, the work creates space for truth telling while asserting our continuing presence.
We engaged community members for their knowledge of cultural foods, resources and this Country. Auntie Lola Greeno, Auntie Theresa Sainty, Greg Lehman, Julie Gough, Nieka Lehman and other Palawa contributors brought perspectives that shaped the engagement approach and opportunities within the project.
Their involvement informed how community participation, commissioning and procurement would be undertaken.
DESIGNING A LIVING LANDSCAPE
Through consultation and research, we identified an opportunity for a native garden around In Absence. I thought of it as a blakfella outdoor supermarket: a place where plants could provide food, medicines and cultural resources, supporting food sovereignty and ongoing community engagement with the museum.
I worked with members of the local Palawa community alongside Yhonnie Scarce and MONA horticulturalist Ben Essex to develop the planting design, using a site plan supplied by Edition Office. Species selection responded to hard soil on the headland and wetter, marshy conditions at lower levels. We also considered how people would move through the space and access the plants.
The completed plan brought together ten proposed native species, including kangaroo grass, lomandra, blue flax lily, chocolate lily, native currant and pepper berry. Each was considered in relation to the site and its cultural purpose. The reeds already growing along the river offered a connection to resources our people use for weaving baskets and making canoes.
The work included a planting guide outlining cultural relevance, growth and care requirements, together with a detailed layout plotting the proposed planting. Completed in July 2025, the design provided a practical basis for the garden’s future development.
OPENING AND INTERPRETATION
The engagement strategy led to commissions for Palawa writers, researchers and Elders to respond to In Absence. Their contributions are included in MONA’s online artwork directory and the O app, bringing local perspectives into the way visitors encounter and understand the work.
At the private opening, Sheldon Thomas provided a Welcome to Country, Palawa Kipli catered and Warren Mason shared song and story. Auntie Theresa Sainty reflected on the significance of gathering on Muwinina Country to open a work called In Absence, given that it is the Muwinina who are in absence as well due to the effects of invasion. These contributions grounded the opening in the community, truth telling, the assertion of First Nations sovereignty and the Country we gathered on in Nipaluna/Hobart.
AN ONGOING RELATIONSHIP
In Absence opened at MONA during Dark Mofo in June 2026. Budget, logistics, nearby building works and safety and security considerations meant the proposed garden could not be planted within the opening timeline. The surrounding space was landscaped with turf, while the garden design and planting documentation remain available for future consideration.
The project delivered the cultural engagement strategy, community contributions to interpretation and the opening, and the planting guide and landscape design. I remain hopeful that the outdoor supermarket will become part of the artwork’s life at MONA, giving community further opportunities to gather, access cultural resources and strengthen relationships with the museum.
Working across museum, artist and community expectations strengthened my ability to advocate for Palawa perspectives while navigating the practical conditions of a major project. Seeing our community reflected within MONA brought a sense of pride and visibility. I look forward to that presence continuing to grow, including through a significant Palawa work in the collection that the next generation can aspire to.
PROJECT CREDITS
Cultural Consultancy & Strategy:
Caleb Nichols-Mansell
Client:
Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)
In Absence:
Yhonnie Scarce and Edition Office. Originally commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria for the 2019 NGV Architecture Commission.
MONA Curatorial Team:
Jarrod Rawlins and Sarah Wallace
Palawa Advisor & Contributors:
Auntie Lola Greeno, Auntie Theresa Sainty, Greg Lehman, Julie Gough, Nieka Lehman and other Palawa community members.
Private Opening:
Welcome to Country by Sheldon Thomas; Opening Address by Auntie Theresa Sainty; Catering by Palawa Kipli; Song and Story by Warren Mason.
Photography by Ben Hosking for the original 2019 NGV Architecture Commission