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‘Ladies Lounge’ has taken a creative approach to deterring unwanted male visitors.
Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) raised eyebrows when it launched an exhibition open only to women.
Titled ‘Ladies Lounge’, the exhibit features works by American artist Kirsh Kaechele, and is designed as a commentary on misogynistic borders in the art world and beyond.
However, the show was abruptly closed in April last year, when Sydney resident Jason Lau attempted to enter the museum, was turned away, and subsequently filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the Mona.
The Tasmanian civil administrative tribunal found the museum to be in violation of the state’s anti-discriminatory law and ordered that Ladies Lounge be opened to visitors of all genders.
But Kirsha Kaechele doesn’t seem to be backing down. This week, she said she will challenge the ruling by making the Ladies Lounge ‘compliant’ with regulations.
The exhibit houses some of the most important artworks in the museum’s collection, including pieces by Picasso and Sidney Nolan. Inside, guests are greeted by opulent furnishings and male butlers, who serve champagne while guests view the pieces on display.
Kaechele told Australian media outlets that in order to bypass the legislation laid out in the lawsuit, the Ladies Lounge would be functioning as a women’s toilet for the foreseeable future.
‘There is a fabulous toilet coming to the Ladies Lounge, and so in that sense the Ladies Lounge will operate as a ladies’ room.
It’s a toilet that is celebrated the world round. It is the greatest toilet, and men won’t be allowed to see it,’ Kaechele said.
Men will only be allowed into the space on Sundays, where – according to Kaechele – they will learn ironing and laundry folding.
‘Women can bring all their clean laundry and men can go through a series of graceful movements (designed by Rinpoche and refined by tai chi masters) to fold them,’ she said on Tuesday.
According to Mona and those involved in the Ladies Lounge, men have and always will be a part of the exhibit because their exclusion is central to the installation’s artistic effect.
