The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart (Tasmania), initially convicted of discrimination, has obtained a reprieve. THE Ladies’ Loungethe installation in question, will be able to reopen while remaining reserved for women.
The Supreme Court recognized that the installation “forbidden to men” was not discriminatory since it was aimed at a group, women, themselves victims of discrimination. Shane Marshall, the judge in the case, ruled that the men could be legally excluded from the Ladies’ Lounge. ” THE Ladies’ Lounge can be considered as a device aimed at promoting equality of opportunity”declared Judge Shane Marshall, cited by The Guardian.
It’s “a day of triumph” for women and for the museum, said Kirsha Kaechele, the artist behind the installation. “It took 30 seconds for the decision to be made — 30 seconds to abolish the patriarchy”she congratulated herself, cited by the BBC.
MONA was condemned for discrimination last April. THE Ladies’ Lounge had displeased Jason Lu, an Australian national who was refused access to the exhibition in April 2023. The visitor had sued the museum, believing that the ban on men from entering the exhibition was discriminatory. The museum then preferred to close the installation rather than allow the men to enter, thus contravening the court decision.
Following this conviction, the artist moved, last June, Picasso’s paintings from the Ladies’ Lounge to a new installation, the Ladies’ Room, where they are displayed in women’s toilets.
Open since 2020, the Ladies’ Lounge is a space decorated with thick green velvet curtains, where women can meet to drink a glass of champagne in front of part of the museum’s collections. The facility is strictly prohibited for men, with the exception of waiters and butlers (!). Inspired by old Australian pubs, once forbidden to women, this room intends to reverse this code by creating a safe space for women, long excluded from many places reserved for men.
But the decision is only provisional, the case will be re-examined.
MONA in Hobart, Tasmania.
