5 Questions with James Brett Text by Robert Shore “To communicate and universalize art­making from beyond the known boundaries—and to do so by any means necessary.” That’s the mission statement of The Museum of Everything, which founder James Brett and his team are proudly carrying to Australia in an ambitious project with the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Tasmania. How did the Mona project come about? Mona and The Museum of Everything share a certain way of seeing. It has something to do with art, or rather, that thing we call art. We are both contrary and curious, yet we are also oddfellows and opposites. After a few years of philosophical free-associating, Mona curator Olivier Varenne felt it was time we tied a knot. David Walsh and I held our hands and noses—and we said yes. Did you have a particular goal in mind in creating the show? The goal was communication. Few major Australian institutions have taken the plunge into alternative materials and so-called outsiderism. Certainly none have hosted as immersive an installation as The Museum of Everything—and this despite many eloquent activists, such as curator Lynn Cooke, writer Jennifer Higgie and artist Fiona Hall. We thought it was time for change; and in Mona, found a partner willing not only to support the project, but to do so with verve, theatre and edge. The resultant happening has broken new ground, not only for the region, but for the field. It is our most complete and cohesive exhibition to date. It’s fairly massive. What has putting the exhibition together involved—physically and mentally? This project was conceived, written and edited many times over the year prior to its realization. A multi-act narrative evolved and this remained fluid until the exhibition finally came into being. This gave the physical aspect its flow, immediacy and tension, for the rhythm was never rigid. Yet at its core lay one central idea: an Old World home-museum constructed inside Mona’s New World architecture, with thirty interconnected rooms leading visitors through a matter of life and death—and all contained within an imposing three-storey frontage. On the practical side, artworks needed to be prepared and dispatched across the world many months prior, with leeway for the kinds of on-site associations which often give The Museum of Everything its particular flavour. In addition, the alternative history we thought to propose demanded that each space relate spatially and thematically to the next. The goal was invisible flow, rather than a formal, historical or geographical arrangement of objects. Curatorial, architectural and interior     July 2017 part. What is next for The Museum of Everything? We are scouting locations for travelling shows—particularly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We have smaller projects too, like our pop-up gallery in central London, which hosts regular exhibitions by individual artists. There’s a growing need for educational and outreach projects, so we increasingly put together meetings, seminars, workshops and other related activities. And we are always on the hunt for new art-makers around the world. In the end, we are a charitable organization and we believe unequivocally in our mission: to communicate and universalize art-making from beyond the known boundaries—and to do so by any means necessary. The exhibition continues until 2 April 2018. www.musevery.com;www.mona.net.au James Brett, Alexander Coggin for The New York Times