Controversy at Museum of New and Old Art: Exhibition Moved to Women’s Restroom

Controversy at Museum of New and Old Art

When an Australian court ruled that a museum exhibition could not be exclusive to women, its curator decided to move the paintings to the women’s restroom.

The “Ladies Lounge” Exhibition

The curator, Kirsha Kaechele, had opened the exhibition “Ladies Lounge” at the Museum of New and Old Art in Hobart, the capital of the Australian state of Tasmania, as a space where women could “indulge in decadent nibbles, fancy tipples and other ladylike pleasures.”

Creative Solution

After the ruling, Ms. Kaechele decided to get creative and move parts of the installation — including several Picasso paintings — to a women’s restroom in the museum. The museum, which is owned by her husband, had only unisex bathrooms before this week, she said on social media.

Ms. Kaechele has said she plans to appeal the ruling before the Supreme Court of Tasmania.

The bathroom art appears to include a painting from Picasso’s series of works inspired by Manet’s “Déjeuner sur l’Herbe.” There is also a drawing of a nude woman hanging over a toilet.

“I just didn’t know what to do with all those Picassos” from the original exhibition, Ms. Kaechele wrote on Instagram. In the same post, she promised to have the “Ladies Lounge” installation reopened under a different pretense that complied with Australia’s anti-discrimination act.