Mona, Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art, has been ordered to allow men into its Ladies Lounge installation after losing a legal battle.
Created by artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele, whose husband is Mona owner David Walsh, Ladies Lounge was only open to women, with male visitors banned.
Designed as a piece of interactive art, the installation is inspired by male-only spaces in Australia throughout history.
However, after New South Wales resident Jason Lau was denied entry to the exhibit in April 2023, he filed a gender discrimination lawsuit, which he won on Tuesday (9 April).
The judgement, handed down by the Tasmanian civil and administrative tribunal, ordered Mona to allow “persons who do not identify as ladies” to access Ladies Lounge within 28 days.
Ladies Lounge, which was opened in 2020, is “a tremendously lavish space in our museum in which women can indulge in decadent nibbles, fancy tipples, and other ladylike pleasures – hosted and entertained by the fabulous butler”, says Mona.
Via Australian news reports, Lau said at a court hearing: “I visited Mona, paid 35 Australian dollars on the expectation that I would have access to the museum, and I was quite surprised when I was told that I would not be able to see one exhibition, the Ladies Lounge.”
Lau, who represented himself throughout the case, added: “Anyone who buys a ticket would expect a fair provision of goods and services in line with the law.”
Tasmania museum “deeply disappointed”
Mona agreed that the exhibit does indeed discriminate, but argued that men are experiencing the artwork exactly as intended.
“We are deeply disappointed by this decision,” a Mona representative said after the ruling (via the BBC). In a statement, Kaechele said she was “deeply saddened” by the judgement.
“If you were just looking at it from an aesthetic standpoint, being forced to close would be pretty powerful,” Kaechele previously said.
Images courtesy of Mona
