Museum Ordered to Allow Man into ‘Ladies Lounge’ Exhibit

The Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Thursday, April 9, 2015. Andrew Drummond/AAP

Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art—better known as MONA—has been ordered to allow men into its lounge area exclusive to women, following a case before a tribunal.

Housed within the Moorilla winery in Hobart, MONA is the largest privately funded museum in the Southern Hemisphere. Founded by Tasmanian millionaire David Walsh in 2011, it is renowned for its central themes of sex and death, and has been described by its founder, as a “subversive adult Disneyland.”

The legal action was brought forth by Jason Lau from New South Wales earlier this year. Mr. Lau contended that being denied entry into the Ladies Lounge due to his gender when he visited the museum last April violated Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act.

The museum’s legal counsel admitted that Mr. Lau had been discriminated against, but that such exclusion was integral to the intended experience of the artwork.

Men Denied Access to Works by Picasso and Sidney Nolan

The Ladies Lounge was created by artist Kirsha Kaechele, wife of Mr. Walsh. Women who enter the space are pampered by male butlers and served champagne, surrounded by some of the museum’s finest pieces of art including pieces by Sidney Nolan, Pablo Picasso, and a trove of antiquities from Mesopotamia, Central America, and Africa. However, individuals who do not identify as women are barred from entry.

Ms. Kaechele, describing herself as an “artist who works in the world and tend[s] to engage life as a medium,” viewed the tribunal proceedings as an opportunity for her artwork to transcend the confines of the museum.

“It was a dream come true for the work to leave the museum and enter the realm of the world—a completely new space. It was very interesting to have artwork come to life in a courtroom,” she said.

She admitted the discriminatory nature of the lounge but argued that it served as an essential component of the artwork itself.

“The men are experiencing Ladies Lounge, their experience of rejection is the artwork,“ she explained. ”OK, they experience the artwork differently than women, but men are certainly experiencing the artwork as it’s intended.”

She said that while the museum had received multiple complaints, only one other patron wanted formal redress.

“And I said, ‘You do experience the artwork, because the rejection is the artwork’. And he understood that and he appreciated it and he dropped the case,” she said.

She said the piece was inspired by her experience in a pub on Flinders Island several years ago when she and a female friend were advised by male patrons that they would feel “more comfortable” in the ladies’ lounge.

Hearing Becomes Performance Art

During the hearing, Ms. Kaechele and about 25 of her supporters transformed the hearing into a performance art piece.

Clad in matching navy business attire, they engaged in choreographed movements such as synchronised leg crossing, leaning forward together, and peering over the top of their glasses. When the hearing concluded, they left the room to the song Simply Irresistible by Robert Palmer.

Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act permits discrimination in a situation designed to promote equal opportunity for a group of people who are disadvantaged or have a special need because of a prescribed attribute—in this case, gender. A broad interpretation of this clause has allowed organisations such as male-only clubs and women-only gyms to operate.

However, the Tribunal’s deputy president, Richard Grueber, said in his judgment that MONA’s argument that the artwork promoted equal opportunity was “inconsistent” as “it is not apparent how preventing men from experiencing the art within the space of the Ladies Lounge, which is Mr. Lau’s principle complaint, promotes opportunity for female artists to have work displayed.”

He ordered MONA to allow men to access the installation within 28 days, though acknowledging the museum’s stance that removing the Ladies Lounge might be the consequence, as its refusal of men is crucial to the point of the work.

“There are many aspects of this case which may seem paradoxical,” Mr. Grueber said.