Mona devises strategy to keep Ladies Lounge alive after shock tribunal ruling to allow men

“There is a fabulous toilet coming to the Ladies Lounge … and men won’t be allowed to see it,” Mona’s Kirsha Kaechele said of her strategy to keep the female-only Ladies Lounge alive.

Artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele outside the Supreme Court of Tasmania in Hobart. The museum has lodged an appeal against a recent tribunal decision that ordered it to allow men into its female-only Ladies Lounge. Picture: Jesse Hunniford/Mona

There will be no death knell for Mona’s female-only Ladies Lounge.

Artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele has promised to keep the dream alive after the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ordered last month that the museum stop refusing men into its opulent, emerald-curtained, women’s space.

The shock decision came after New South Wales resident Jason Lau lodged a discrimination complaint against Mona when he was refused entry to the space – which not only contains artworks, but is an artwork in itself – during April 2023.

The women-only ladies' lounge at Mona. Picture: Jesse Hunniford

Currently, the luxurious Ladies Lounge is closed in order to comply with the tribunal’s orders.

But on Tuesday, Ms Kaechele announced her strategy to bring the lounge back to life – with plans ranging from traditional legal means to the astonishingly unconventional.

Firstly, Mona’s lawyers have lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court of Tasmania, in the hopes it will overturn the tribunal’s decision.

While an appeal date is yet to be locked in, Mona’s lawyers plan to argue the tribunal “took too narrow a view” when examining women’s historical and ongoing societal disadvantage, and in how the Ladies Lounge could promote equal opportunity.

In the meantime, Ms Kaechele is taking steps to make the Ladies Lounge compliant under key exemptions provided by Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act.

Kirsha Kaechele arrives at the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Picture: Chris Kidd

“The Ladies Lounge will become a toilet, a church and a school,” she announced to journalists next to the museum’s lavish female-only space.

“There is a fabulous toilet coming to the Ladies Lounge, and so in that sense the Ladies Lounge will operate as a ladies’ room. It’s a toilet that is celebrated the world round. It is the greatest toilet, and men won’t be allowed to see it.”

She said the toilet was currently en route to Mona and would be installed in the Ladies Lounge within the coming 45 days, in the hopes it would make the space compliant with anti-discrimination laws – given women-only bathrooms had an exemption.

Ms Kaechele said she would also turn the Ladies Lounge into a church with bible studies, and a school, with tuition for men, which she also hoped would meet the requirements for exemption under the laws.

The women-only ladies' lounge at Mona. Picture: Jesse Hunniford

“Initially I thought ‘men can’t come in at all’,” she said.

“But now, I think we might allow them in on Sundays … it’s a school. I thought that perhaps women could bring their laundry in, and every Sunday we will allow men in for a few hours of instruction on folding and ironing laundry.”

In the meantime, some of the key artworks in the Ladies Lounge – including works by Pablo Picasso – will be moved into a women’s toilet at Mona.

“I don’t want women to miss a single day of seeing these great artworks. So I’ll be moving them into the ladies’ room – as in the ladies’ toilet – so as to ensure uninterrupted viewing of the artworks while I apply for all of the other exemptions,” Ms Kaechele said.

Ms Kaechele said she didn’t think last month’s tribunal decision was a dark day for feminism and the arts in Tasmania.

Conversely, she said Mr Lau’s complaint had helped “shine a light on a situation” and that it “brought the work to life, took it out of the museum and into the world”.

“I’m deeply grateful to him for that,” she said.

“There’s real bravery in bringing forward a case like this. And he’s taken heat. I think we should stop giving him a hard time.

“Without Mr Lau, that artwork would really be unnotable, so I think it’s time to celebrate his contribution.”

Follow @ambervwilson