At the Museum of Ancient and Modern Art (MONA) in Tasmania, women until then had a space dedicated to them. Named “Ladies lounge”, it had to close following a court decision stipulating that men should also have access to it, according to the Guardian. To express his dissatisfaction with this sentence, Kirsha Kaecheleartist and wife of the museum owner, David Walshdecided to exhibit two paintings of Pablo Picasso from the museum collection… in the women’s toilets.
A discriminatory experience?
The Picassos were among the works of art previously hung in the museum’s “Ladies lounge.” This space, designed by Kirsha Kaechele, aimed to recreate the historical experience of exclusion experienced by women in the art world, still current in some ways. Inaugurated in 2020, the “Ladies lounge” allowed women accessing it to be pampered by butlers and receive champagne, surrounded by some of the museum’s most beautiful works.
In April, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled the experiment was discriminatory, following a complaint by a Sydney man who was refused entry. Under section 26 of Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act, the exhibition was therefore closed as it could no longer refuse access on the basis of gender.
Ladies first !
Kirsha Kaechele shared a video on Instagram showing the famous Spanish artist’s paintings in the women’s restroom, with the caption: “A new exhibition at MONA. Just for the ladies. » She then specifies that there had never been toilets reserved for women before, all being unisex, but that “the Ladies Lounge had to close. And (she) didn’t know what to do with all these Picassos…”
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In her post, she adds that the museum plans to transform the “Ladies lounge” into a “church, school or other facility.” In the meantime, all women who consider themselves as such can enjoy these works of art in this unusual place to say the least.
