The Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) has today announced that the February 2024 edition of its annual Mona Foma festival was the last.

The festival, which has been presented for 16 years, curated by Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritche, has hosted high profile acts including David Byrne, Philip Glass, Nico Muhly, Sun Ra and Peaches.

Mona Foma 2019. Photo © MONA/Jesse Hunniford

The 2024 festival, which spanned from 15–25 February in Hobart, hosted artists such as Queens of the Stone Age and Mogwai.

“Mona Foma took us around the world. But it ends here,” said Mona owner and founder, David Walsh in a statement on the Mona blog. “Maybe the end started at COVID. Maybe it’s because the last festival was a poorly-attended artistic triumph. But those aren’t the reasons I killed it.”

“I know that we live for experience but, more and more, I seek permanence, a symbolic immortality. At Mona, I’m building this big thing, hopefully it’ll be a good thing, but it’s a costly thing. I’m addicted to building, and my addiction got out of hand. Some things have to go before I’m too far gone.

Mona Foma...