The provocative saga of MONA’s Ladies Lounge continues and is perhaps reaching climax with the announcement of their legal win, the show re-opening, an upcoming party, and, a new fragrance ‘The Verdict’.
A quick re-cap, the Ladies Lounge installation at the popular Tasmanian gallery was controversial as only women were permitted entry. It drew local and international attention to gender inequality. We left the story in August as the gallery, artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele, and their team, were hatching plans to appeal the Tasmanian tribunal result (which had put the art installation on pause) in the Tasmanian Supreme Court. On 27 September Acting Justice Stephen Marshall overturned the Tribunal’s order, ruling that the Ladies Lounge was not discriminatory as it met the conditions of Section 26 of Tasmania’s Anti-Discrimination Act which allows for discrimination where it promotes equal opportunity for a disadvantaged group of people.
Kaechele appeared as she had before with an entourage of women seemingly engaged in performance art, dressed formally with red-lipstick, and pearl necklaces, moving in step with one another. MONA’s legal counsel Catherine Scott said, “Today’s decision demonstrates how an artwork, and the Ladies Lounge in particular, can promote equal opportunity.”
Kaechele pondered and celebrated the win online, writing on her social media, “In legalese: The Ladies Lounge promotes equal opportunity and therefore can continue to exist under exception 26 of the Anti-Discrimination Act. Translation: The judge agrees that the Ladies Lounge is exceptional. Seriously: I am incredibly grateful to live in a democracy where opposing viewpoints can be exercised calmly in a court of law—many women (people) in the world are not so lucky.”
Kaechele continued “I believe in and love the Ladies Lounge. It is a uniting force, has brought women from all sides of the political spectrum together—refreshing! Most men put up with it too. The art has melded with the world, dissolved the barriers between art and life (they never existed anyway).”
Since then Kaechele has announced that the Ladies Lounge will return to MONA from 19 December 2024 to 13 January 2025, after a 7-month hiatus, in an Instagram post.
“This is not just a party; it’s a victory dance! In recognition of our fight against the patriarchy and the support you’ve shown, let us gather in the space where it all started … We’ll bathe in champagne and enjoy the kind of ecstatic release that comes only after a hard-won battle” Kaechele said.
The gallery says the event will be an opportunity to become a part of a ‘living-installation’ with a focus on celebration and indulgence.
And, as MONA notes ‘She’s even letting some boys in, for domestic arts lessons and other reparations… Men are (still) not permitted, though the opportunity to be of service will be available to a select few, if they queue nicely (digitally, via ballot on Mona’s app, the O.)’ The Ladies Lounge will only admit men over two weekends: 26–30 December and 1–6 January.
Find all the details to plan your visit here.
Kaechele has hinted that this will be the last iteration of the show in the MONA space, but suggested the Ladies Lounge could ‘pop-up’ in other spaces as appropriate.