A museum in Australia has appealed against a court order to open a women-only exhibition to men. The court made the decision after Jason Lau complained about the exhibition, citing an anti-discriminatory approach.
Lau was not allowed into the exhibition. So that only women can continue to visit the collection, its author and museum curator Kirsha Kaechele plans to transform it into women’s toilets. The Tasmanian Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) has been operating the so-called Ladies’ Lounge since 2020. The design of the lounge is based on old Australian pubs, which women were mostly not allowed to visit until the 1970s. On the walls covered in green velvet hang some of the museum’s rarest pieces, including paintings by Pablo Picasso.
“I am considering expanding the lounge to include one of the greatest works of art of the 20th century and the most important toilet in history, The Fountain by Marcel Duchamp,” Kaechele told Australian media. “Of course men wouldn’t be able to see her, but women would enjoy her.”
Jason Lau argued in court last year that the museum denied him and other visitors who do not identify as women “the equal provision of goods and services under the law” when it banned him from visiting the collection.
“Among other things, Mr. Lau argues that he could not experience the exhibition, although he paid the same money as the visitor. But the fact that the museum refused to let him continue is part of the exhibition,” said Kaecheleová. She pointed out that she considers the court’s decision to be short-sighted. The museum has previously invoked a broader interpretation of Australian law, which allows discrimination if it promotes equal opportunities for disadvantaged groups.
The lounge has been closed since Tuesday. “Unfortunately, I had to take this step at least until the lounge meets one of the conditions of the exemptions from the law,” said Kaecheleová. “So that it doesn’t break any laws, it could be a toilet, but also a church or a school, or an accommodation facility.”
