A women-only exhibition known as the Ladies Lounge will reopen to the public months after it was shut down when one grumpy patron sued for gender discrimination. A Tasmanian Supreme Court judge overturned a previous ruling that said the exhibit at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart must admit men.

Ladies Lounge is an installation by artist and provocateur Kirsha Kaechele, who describes it as “a tremendously lavish space” where “women can indulge in decadent nibbles, fancy tipples, and other ladylike pleasures.” All courtesy of a humble but handsome male butler, of course.

The legal battle over the lounge’s admissions policy began after Jason Lau was turned away while visiting MONA on April 1, 2023. He complained to Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner and the case was referred to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2024, where Lau alleged that his rights had been violated. The court ruled in his favor.

Justice Shane Marshall of the Tasmania Supreme Court came to the opposite conclusion on September 27 by referring to Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act of 1998, which includes exception 26 allowing that: “Any person may discriminate against another person in any project, plan or arrangement designed to promote equal opportunity for a group of people who are disadvantaged.”

Kirsha Kaechele, Ladies Lounge.
Photo: Mona/Jesse Hunniford Image. Courtesy MONA Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

In his decision, he wrote the Ladies Lounge does this by “highlighting the lack of equal opportunity, which generally prevails in society, by providing women with a rare glimpse of what it is like to be advantaged rather than disadvantaged.”

“This is a big win,” declared Kaechele in a statement. “It took 30 seconds for the decision to be delivered—30 seconds to quash the patriarchy. Today’s verdict demonstrates a simple truth: women are better than men.”

She has previously stated that the whole legal debacle is simply “the chaotic, living expression of the artwork, its journey into the unknown.”

A gender discrimination lawsuit isn’t the only reason that the Ladies Lounge has been making headlines. In July, Kaechele revealed that when she advertised the installation’s exclusive collection of art treasures, she was faking a touted highlight, Picasso canvases allegedly collected by her grandmother. These were actually painted by Kaechele herself.

The girl boss-turned-trickster came clean on the museum’s blog, admitting that she liked the idea that “a misogynist would dominate the walls of the Ladies Lounge,” in reference to recent reassessments of the modernist painter’s relationship with women. When acquiring a genuine Picasso proved tricky, she decided to make some of her own.

News that three of the “Picassos” had been hung away from the male gaze in the ladies bathroom went viral before Kaechele eventually confessed that they are fakes.