The art of discrimination

MONA is famous for taking the rule book and throwing it away.

This week the famous Tasmanian gallery was confronted with a rule it cannot break, “discrimination”.

For those unacquainted with the acronym, MONA is the Museum of Old and New Art.

It is the brainchild of David Walsh, who has sunk millions of his own money into an extraordinary exhibition space that has changed the economy of Hobart and the way we experience art in this country.

Walsh is a gambler, and his creation is hyper personal, idiosyncratic, architecturally stunning, and universally recognised as a place of intellectual provocation.

It is a performative environment that does not take itself too seriously.

For visitors, even the briefest degree of research prior to arrival, will prepare you for a journey into confrontational knowns and unknowns. In the “about section” of the website, MONA is described as “a temple to secularism, rationalism, and talking crap about stuff you really don’t know very much about.”

This was the place that commissioned the Cloaca. The notorious machine that starts with mastication and ends with defecation. Yes, they have a poo machine, which even replicates the smell.

The gallery is sunk deep into the earth, they have a tennis court in the courtyard, to challenge the way you arrive at the front door. Cut to, an exhibition entitled “The Ladies Lounge”, created by Kirsha Kaechele, who is married to David Walsh.

Apparently “The Ladies Lounge” is a space created for ladies only.

No men are permitted to enter it, and this is the human experience, this is the art. It seems obvious and literal and accurate, but for at least one male patron it was so upsetting he took it to court. Jason Lau argued he was discriminated against because he couldn’t experience the entire exhibition.

One could argue, that is the point.

I mean, I don’t know much about art, but I’ve been to plenty of pubs that used to have a ‘ladies lounge’.

So, the point of the exhibition in my opinion is to shine a light on the history of exclusion in this country. To highlight the systemic secrecy of the patriarchy. To charge admission and make available, a replication of private spaces where women have been historically excluded and exiled.

Turning the tables is the point, right? The way you feel is the art, but this week the man won the case.

The Tasmania Civil and Administrative Tribunal declared that MONA must “cease refusing entry” to this installation “by persons who do not identify as ladies”.

The ruling is a reminder of the continued relevance of this exhibition and how good art can hold a mirror to society.

But it also makes you wonder, could the complaint and the ruling be part of the installation?

That may be a tin foil hat review, but in reality, it’s been great publicity for “The Ladies Lounge”.

Makes you think.

And that’s the point, right?

They have 28 days to comply.