The organisers of Dark Mofo 2014, the Museum of Old and New Art’s (MONA) winter festival, have announced the cancellation of their upcoming Launceston event, due to take place this June, citing an “unsustainable business model” as the reason behind the cancellation.
“It is our strong belief that the event would not be able to deliver the economic and social outcomes that an investment of public money of this size should expect, and it is highly unlikely the event would survive past the inaugural year,” Creative Director Leigh Carmichael said in a statement.
“Given the resources required to make the event happen, we believe proceeding at this point would be an irresponsible use of public funds.” They said the absence of a major three-month winter exhibition to support the Launceston cultural event was “a major contributing factor” for their decision to withdraw.
“We sincerely thank all of the people and organisations involved for their support of this project, and we will continue to push forward and look for ways for the North and South to collaborate and capitalise on the current success of cultural tourism in the State,” concluded Carmichael.
Dark Mofo 2014 will still take place on June 12th-22nd in and around Hobart, check out the details here. The lineup will be announced on April 11th.
