An anti-discrimination case launched against the Hobart museum, by a man refused entry to a women’s-only space, has reignited debate about art’s relationship to law.
On Tuesday, the high-powered Australian art and legal worlds collided with news of a highly unusual anti-discrimination lawsuit lodged in Tasmania, aimed at Hobart’s world-famous Museum of Old and New Art .
The man claiming the disadvantage is Jason Lau, from New South Wales. He argued his case via video link at the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Tuesday, maintaining that he was discriminated against because of his gender and was unable to fully experience Mona after paying his $35 entrance fee. Banks says it’s not the first time someone who is not part of a marginalised group has claimed discrimination, but that such cases are uncommon.
“There’s certainly still plenty of evidence of disadvantage ,” Banks says. “We’ve just had International Women’s Day, when we talk about things like the pay gap, so things like that do exist. The context here is a little unusual, because we’re talking about women in art spaces, and you know, I can’t help but think of the Guerrilla Girls who do work as a feminist collective to promote the presence of women’s art in places where they traditionally haven’t been seen.
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