With the launch of the Ladies Lounge, a women-only area in Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona), artist Kirsha Kaechele aimed to breathe life into the saying, “Girls just wanna have fun.” The champagne-sipping, art-appreciating women were interrupted, predictably, by a man. Jason Lau filed a complaint with Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner after being turned away from the Ladies Lounge.
Interestingly, this feeling of exclusion was, in fact, the art for Kaechele, who wanted to highlight the historical exclusion of women from certain spaces. What ensued was the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal declaring that the Ladies Lounge had to open its doors to men and had 28 days to make amends.
The lady wouldnt have it any other way and Ladies Lounge was shut. Still, not one to simply give up on her vision owing to one man, Kaechele, the wife of Mona’s billionaire owner, David Walsh, created a pop-up ladies’ lounge of sorts. In a video posted on social media, she revealed that at least two paintings by the late Spanish artist Picasso adorned the walls of a female toilet cubicle. Talk about killing two birds with one stone; now Kaechele had her lounge—and one that Jason Lau or any other man wouldn’t fight to enter. The artist shared that Mona did not have female toilets before, but the lawsuit gave her the idea to open one, serving a dual purpose.
The post’s caption read, “New exhibition at Mona. Just for ladies… (We never had female toilets at Mona before, they were all unisex. But then the Ladies Lounge had to close thanks to a lawsuit brought on by a man. And I just didn’t know what to do with all those Picassos… (the judge’s ruling—a fantastic read—and an essay I wrote for the Mona blog exploring the various exemptions we may employ for continuing to discriminate against men, are in my bio.)
We’ll get the Lounge open again as a church/school/boutique glamping accommodation/facilities/etc under Section 26 of the Anti-Discrimination Act, but in the meantime, enjoy! (ladies) (that applies to ALL ladies, you know who you are, and when you are you’re welcome.)” Guess some girls know how to have fun, have the cake and the cherries too!
