An art gallery fighting to reopen a ladies-only lounge ruled to be discriminatory has argued the space intended to “flip the universe” and highlight ongoing gender inequality.
Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art shut the lounge in April after NSW man Jason Lau complained to the state’s civil and administrative tribunal when he wasn’t allowed in.
The tribunal found Lau had been discriminated against and ordered the gallery to allow men access.
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The gallery opted to instead close the lounge, a green-curtained room with artwork, and lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court of Tasmania.
The gallery’s lawyer Catherine Scott said the lounge was designed to promote equal opportunity and give men an experience of ongoing discrimination.
Women in Australia in 2024 were less valued and less powerful than men, less safe at home from gendered violence and paid less, she said.
“A flipped universe … it invites the participant to think about that,” Scott told the court during an appeal hearing today.
“It’s not about bringing another group down … it’s simply ‘no you can’t come in and think about why’.”
Scott said Lau had participated in the artwork as intended, a key part of the gallery’s case before the tribunal.
Dozens of women, including artist and lounge curator Kirsha Kaechele, the wife of gallery owner David Walsh, walked in synchronisation to the court.
Lau, who was not present in court, was represented for free by Greg Barns SC who has worked for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
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Barns said there was no dispute about the discrimination faced by women but the tribunal was open to find the lounge itself was discriminatory.
An “extraordinarily articulate” Lau had told the tribunal the gallery’s goal was vague, lacked context and it was unclear how the lounge addressed equal opportunity, he said.
Barns argued the lounge’s purpose was to only reflect on historical disadvantage.
If the lounge was found to not be discriminatory it followed that you could cordon off areas “to make a point”, he said.
The gallery has argued the tribunal failed to properly consider the purpose of the lounge and its decision should be dismissed or reconsidered.
“(This case) is really important because of what women have been through for millennia and continue to experience now,” Kaechele said outside court.
“Women and men are not equal today, all of the statistics indicate that.
“A conceptual artwork that brings that to the fore … is important and should be allowed to exist.”
Kaechele said she wasn’t sure what would happen to the lounge if the gallery lost the appeal and was optimistic of a decision in her favour.
She has previously flagged trying to find a legal loophole to reopen the space by branding it a “church”, “bathroom” or place of “education”.
Acting Justice Shane Marshall will deliver his decision at a later date.
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