Picasso paintings, like this one, hang in the toilets of the Tasmanian Museum of Old and New Art. © Instagram Kirsha Kaechele
AUSTRALIA – Works of art exhibited in a somewhat unusual place. Several paintings, including those by Picasso, currently hang in the women’s toilets at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), located in Hobart, Tasmania. The reason ? Challenge a court ruling requiring the museum to allow men in a women-only exhibition.
These paintings, some of which were painted by Picasso, were originally exhibited at the “ Ladies Lounge », a space in the museum reserved only for women. This room, created by Kirsha Kaechele, one of the museum’s curators, focused on the theme of the exclusion of men.
« Their experience of rejection is a work of art (…) the work evokes in men the lived experience of women prohibited from entering certain spaces throughout history “, she explained a few months ago.
However, this room had to close after the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled in April that the “ Ladies Lounge » was discriminatory, reports The Guardian. This decision came after a complaint filed by Jason Lau, a man who was refused access to the room in 2023, even though he had paid for entry.
Appeal to the Court
Kirsha Kaechele therefore thought of another way to exhibit these paintings at all costs while maintaining her wish to have a room dedicated to women. She now says she plans to reopen this “ Ladies Lounge » based on another law which allows certain people to be refused in certain places.
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In the meantime, the conservator announced on May 7 that she would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Tasmania on the grounds that the court “took too narrow a view in terms of women’s historical and current societal disadvantage and failed to recognize how the Ladies Lounge experience can promote equality of opportunity”.
“We must question the law and consider a broader reading of its definitions as they apply to art and its impact on the world, as well as the right of conceptual art to put certain people [hommes] uncomfortable “she added.
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