Major Art Museum Appeals Court Decision to Allow Men Into Ladies’ Exhibit

Artist Kirsha Kaechele outside the Supreme Court. She is to appeal the closure of her "Ladies' Lounge" exhibit (Courtesy of MONA).

The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), based in Hobart Tasmania, is to appeal a ruling that it has to close its “Ladies’ Lounge” if it does not allow men entry.

Women who entered the space were 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 antiquities from Mesopotamia, Central America, and Africa. However, people who did not identify as women were barred from entry.

It was created by artist Kirsha Kaechele, wife of the Museum’s millionaire owner David Walsh.

Jason Lau from New South Wales initiated legal action, claiming that being denied entry into the Ladies’ Lounge due to his gender violated Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act.

The States’ Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal agreed and, in April this year, ordered MONA to open the exhibit to men, with 28 days to comply.

The Tribunal’s deputy president, Richard Grueber, said in his judgment that MONA’s argument that the exhibition promoted equal opportunity was “inconsistent.”

He emphasised that “it is not apparent how preventing men from experiencing the art within the space of the Ladies Lounge, which is Mr. Lau’s principal complaint, promotes opportunity for female artists to have work displayed.”

Exhibition Now Closed

Ms. Kaechele maintained the gender exclusionary policy until May 9 when the 28 days were up, and then closed the exhibition.

During the Tribunal hearing, she transformed the proceedings into a performance art piece. She and her supporters were clad in matching navy business attire, engaged in choreographed movements such as synchronised leg crossing, and left the room to the song “Simply Irresistible” by Robert Palmer. Despite the theatrical display, Ms. Kaechele said the appeal would be a “serious endeavour.”

“[It will be] an investigation by some very smart minds into how the Anti-discrimination Act should be read, and ... if we lose, I think that it provides an opportunity to reassess the writing of that law, the legislation itself, because I definitely believe that spaces like this where women can get away from men are critical, especially right now,” she said.

The Tribunal’s ruling, she said, “is the work of art. It’s extraordinary. It’s literary, it has flourished alliteration, not quite Shakespearean, but really on the verge and so I highly recommend that everyone read the ruling, and I’m honoured that the judge is collaborating in the work.”