August 2017 David Walsh’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart, Tasmania is continuing its long history of presenting challenging and thought-provoking exhibitions with the conversion of its temporary exhibition space into The Museum of Everything – the world’s first travelling museum dedicated to the work of non-academic artists and private art makers. The Museum of Everything was founded in 2009 by British filmmaker James Brett with a mission to promote and showcase the work of artists working outside the boundaries of the cultural mainstream – “the untrained, unintentional, undiscovered, and unclassifiable artists” of the world who would otherwise be ignored or sidelined by the arbiters of artistic achievement. On show until April 2, 2018, “The Museum of Everything” at MONA showcases close to 2000 works by almost 200 artists across 30 individualized spaces. Ranging from 1800 to the present day and spanning the genres of drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, environments, and assemblies, the exhibition takes visitors on an unexpected journey through an alternative art history. “On this journey, you’ll meet over 100 of the most astonishing art-makers you'll ever encounter : people who make not for us, but for themselves,” says Brett. “It is the private life of art, and it is rarely seen in museums and galleries. So forget all you've heard about insiders and outsiders ... if nothing else, this exhibition proves once and for all that art is not from the outer reaches, but from within.” To find out more about The Museum of Everything, BLOUIN ARTINFO’s Nicholas Forrest spoke with Brett and asked him a few questions. What differentiates and characterises the works of the artists who are chosen for inclusion in The Museum of Everything? The Pioneering Visionary Behind The Museum of Everything BY NICHOLAS FORREST | AUGUST 15, 2017 How we see what we see is subjective. I tend towards graphic and detailed work, which comes from a lifetime of reading comic books. So I subvert that tendency by paying more attention to material which doesn't conform to this sort of visual. Some of that work then confuses me, which is helpful in terms of disrupting my own boundaries. In the end though, instinct is the main criterion at The Museum of Everything. That applies both to the artists we favour and the work we curate. There are patterns and behaviours we respond to more, such as an involuntary need to make, a private ritualised practice or a non- academic cultural background. We do have some educated and professional artists in our shows, if they fit into our alternative canon. That's where it all gets increasingly grey and complex to articulate. Much depends on the basics, namely if we like the work, how it looks, how it feels, how it moves us. We gravitate towards more unusual forms of materiality, be they styles, techniques or even behaviours we haven't come across. Then there are certain keys. The modesty of the making is one. Or sometimes, the immodesty. The personal nature of a studio: