Australian museum displays Picassos in ladies’ room

Pieces of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso have been put on display by an Australian museum. ABC Australia reported on Wednesday (local time) that the Hobart Museum of Old and New Art, founded in 2020 in the state of Tasmania, set up a women-only hall titled “Ladies’ Lounge” to display Picassos. This caused it to be sued by a visitor who argued that he was refused entry in April last year just because he is a man. The court ruled this April that the venue infringes on the country’s anti-discrimination law, adding that it should not refuse entry based on gender.

Then, the art museum closed the Ladies Lounge with a sign reading “Closed for Reform” and a picture of a woman wearing green velvet gloves with the middle finger up. Showing its dissatisfaction about the ruling openly, the art gallery disclosed Picassos hung in the female toilet, saying that a new exposition is ready exclusively for women. It decided to display the works of Picasso in a space that only allowed women to access them regardless of the anti-discrimination law.


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