The artistic team dumped as Australia’s representative at the Venice Biennale say they are hurt and disappointed by the decision to “censor” them.
In a shock announcement Thursday night, the board of Creative Australia withdrew its invitation to western Sydney multimedia artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino.
Artist Khaled Sabsabi (right) and curator Michael Dagostino has been dropped as Australia’s entrant to the 2026 Venice Biennale to avoid “divisive debate”. Credit: Steven Siewart
It followed questions raised in the Senate on Thursday by Liberal Senator Claire Chandler, who asked why the government was allowing Sabsabi to represent Australia, given his artwork had in the past featured the now deceased Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as work that the Senator described as “promoting” Osama Bin Laden.
Sabsabi was the first Lebanese artist from western Sydney selected for the biennale. He migrated to Australia with his family from Lebanon during the civil war and has taken strong political positions on the Gaza conflict.
The duo said they were seeking community support to showcase the planned work on another global platform.
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Announcing its decision late on Thursday night, the federal government’s principal arts body said: “Creative Australia is an advocate for freedom of artistic expression and is not an adjudicator on the interpretation of art.
“However, the board believes a prolonged and divisive debate about the 2026 selection outcome poses an unacceptable risk to public support for Australia’s artistic community and could undermine our goal of bringing Australians together through art and creativity.”
Sabsabi and Dagostino said in a statement hours later that they were “extremely hurt and disappointed” by the Creative Australia board’s decision.
