The Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled last April that the Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, contravened the State Anti-Discrimination Law and ordered him to allow the men to enter an exhibition whose entrance was restricted to all those visitors who «they do not identify as women».
The museum’s response has not been long in coming. Mona has decided to hang two works by Picasso in the women’s bathroom so that only they can enjoy it. The two pieces were part of the aforementioned exhibition, ‘Ladies Lounge’, curated by the artist Kirsha Kaechelewhich opened its doors at the museum in 2020. Upon entering the space, women were attended to by male butlers who served them champagne while they enjoyed the works of the Malaga painter and antiquities from Mesopotamia, Central America and Africa.
But Jason Lau, from New South Wales, decided to take legal action against the museum after being denied entry to the facility due to his gender. When the court agreed, Mona decided temporarily close the exhibition and, now, put the paintings in the women’s bathrooms.
«We have never had female toilets at MONA before, they were all unisex. But after the closure of the ‘Ladies Lounge’ thanks to a lawsuit brought by a man, simply I didn’t know what to do with all those Picassos», noted Kaechele on the social network Instagram where he also publishes several photos of the paintings in the bathrooms.
