When an Australian court ruled that a museum exhibition could not be open only to women, the curator decided to move the painting to the women’s restroom.
Curator Kirsha Kaechele opened the exhibition, “Ladies Lounge” The Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, Australia, is a place where women can “indulge in delicious snacks, fine wines, and other ladylike pleasures.”
But install Shutters This spring, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled that the act discriminated against men. Ms Kechler said at the time that the discrimination Some key pointsa nod to Australia’s male-only spaces.
After the ruling, Ms. Keichler decided to get creative and moved part of the installation, which included several Picasso paintings, to the museum’s women’s restroom. Owned by her husbandShe said on social media that before this week, the bathroom only had unisex toilets. Ms Kechler said she planned to appeal to the Tasmanian Supreme Court.
The artwork in the bathroom appears to include a painting from Picasso’s series of works were inspired by Manet’s “Luncheon on the Grass”. There is also a painting of a naked woman hanging over a toilet.
“I just didn’t know what to do with all the Picassos in the original show,” Ms. Keichler said Wrote on InstagramIn the same post, she promised to reopen the “ladies’ lounge” installation under a different pretext that complies with Australia’s anti-discrimination laws.
The museum could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Ladies Lounge opened in 2020 as a nod to Australia’s history of sexism. Women were banned from public bars until 1965, and even then they were often confined to so-called ladies’ rooms.
The exhibition hall is draped with green silk curtains and guarded by an attendant who greets women but forbids men to enter. The room, decorated with black mink carpets, green velvet furniture and Venetian Murano chandeliers, displays antiques, precious jewelry owned by Ms. Keichler and her family and a Picasso that now hangs in the bathroom.
But when museum visitor Jason Lau was denied entry in April 2023, He sued, alleging he was subjected to gender discriminationMs. Kechler arrived at the court hearing with 25 women, all wearing navy suits and pearl necklaces.
In an interview with The New York Times in March, Keichler said she agreed that Liu had experienced discrimination but that his experience was central to the work.
“Given the conceptual power of the artwork, and the value of the artwork inside it, his loss was very real,” she said. “He was overwhelmed.”
She added: “I’m not sorry.”
In April this year, the court Give museums 28 days to closeremove or reform the exhibit—or start allowing men in. Blog Posts Ms. Kechler said on the museum’s website in May that she was considering making some changes to the exhibit to bring it into compliance, including converting it into a chapel.
The museum is no stranger to stunts. This month, it A series of private listening sessions were held Visitors can listen to a rare album by the Wu-Tang Clan that was not originally scheduled to be released to the public until 2103.
