Mona Ordered to Allow Gents Into Ladies Lounge

A Tasmanian tribunal sided with complainant Jason Lau, calling artist Kirsha Kaechele's conduct during the hearing 'contumelious and contemptuous.'

Hobart's Mona art museum has been ordered to cease refusing entry into its Ladies Lounge for 'persons who do not identify as ladies'.

In his decision, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal's deputy president, Richard Grueber, found that museum-goer Jason Lau had been discriminated against by not being allowed to enter the lounge on the basis of his gender.

'We are deeply disappointed by this decision,' a Mona spokesperson told Ocula. 'We will take some time to absorb the result and consider our options. We request that the artist's privacy is respected at this time.'

Jarrod Rawlins, Director of Curatorial Affairs at Mona, proposed a ladies only lounge as a response to two criticisms the museum had received: most of the artworks were created by men and there were too few areas to sit and relax. It was designed by American artist Kirsha Kaechele, who married Mona founder David Walsh in 2014.

Kaechele told the tribunal the Ladies Lounge has green silk curtains, black and white marbled floor, a black mink rug, a Venetian murano chandelier, and a statue of a 'tethered, rearing, restrained-by-golden-chains-and-then-ultimately-defeated phallus'.

It includes treasures such as two Picasso paintings, Pacific Island ceremonial spears, and the gold jewelled crown Kaechele wore to her wedding.

When the lounge was finished Kaechele told Rawlins 'it is done and you can't go in there.'

He described it as 'a conceptual triumph'.

In defence of the Ladies Lounge, Kaechele said in recompense for historical injustice 'women deserve both equal rights and special privileges (in the form of unequal rights, or chivalry) for a minimum of three hundred years (to be refined by esteemed legal minds specialising in such matters).'

'We are so deeply embedded in the dominion of man that we do not even see the myriad ways in which we adhere to and multiply his reign,' she said. 'And for this reason we need the Ladies Lounge: a peaceful space women can retreat to; a haven in which to think clearly, and relish the pure company of women without the overwhelming supremacy of men—to escape the invisible story woven through history into every moment.'

Grueber said that he was 'not satisfied that the discrimination experienced by Mr Lau is designed to promote equal opportunity' for women.

Greuber also made note of Kaechele's conduct during the hearing, which he mostly learned second hand. She and about 20 supporters dressed in navy blue business attire sat still except for synchronised changes in posture every few minutes. They left the tribunal in single file to the sounds of a song by English pop star Robert Palmer, best known for his tracks 'Addicted to Love' and 'Simply Irresistible'.

He described the behaviour as 'inappropriate, discourteous and disrespectful, and at worst contumelious and contemptuous.' 'Contumelious' is an archaic term meaning insolently abusive.

Grueber did not comment on the artistic merits of Mona's Ladies Lounge or Kaechele's courtroom antics, but he did say, 'Given the appropriate comportment of Ms Kaechele while giving her evidence and in the course of the hearing generally I expect that the conduct of the group was some form of performance art rather than being calculated to influence Mr Lau or the determination of his complaint.'

In his decision, available online here, Grueber set out the tension between art and the law in a style reminiscent of a ChatGPT essay.

'From Caravaggio to Jeff Koons, artists and their art have at times had a difficult relationship with the law. This is not surprising. The law is a system of rules regulating behaviour within society, generally for the purposes of good order and safety. Much of the law is directed at protecting property rights and resolving conflict. Art on the other hand may be intentionally derivative, subversive, provocative and anti-authoritarian.' —[O]