Khaled Sabsabi Reinstated as Australia’s Representative at 2026 Venice Biennale
115July 3, 2025
Government arts council Creative Australia has reinstated Lebanese conceptual artistKhaled Sabsabias Australia’s representative to the Sixty-FirstVenice Biennaleand has restored Michael Dagostino to his role as curator of the Australian pavilion. The move comes following an independent external review of Creative Australia’sdecision earlier this year to drop the paira week following their appointment, after politicians and the press denounced Sabsabi’s incorporation of 9/11 imagery and that of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in works dating back nearly twenty years.
The hasty ousting of the creative team led to the “indefinite postponement” of a planned museum show of Sabsabi’s work and sparked outrage both locally and abroad, with hundreds signing petitions calling for the duo’s reinstatement. Among the petitions were anopen letterfrom the other artists and curators who had shortlisted for the 2026 Australian pavilion, and anopen letterfrom the Australian authorial community, which garnered support from many of the country’s top literary figures. Amid the fallout, several Creative Australia staffers resigned, and board chair Robert Morgan announced his retirement.
According toThe Guardian, the review found that though no single person at Creative Australia was at fault, the organization had been ill-prepared for a “potentially divisive controversy” and would need to rebuild trust with the creative community and staffers.
“There is an unfortunate irony in that many of the flaws in the Biennale selection process stemmed from a strong desire within Creative Australia to keep decisions on artistic merit free from non-artistic considerations,” said the report.
“This has been seen as critical to protect freedom of expression and the creative community. In fact, the lack of appropriate preparedness for such a major decision as Australian representation at the Venice Biennale has led to a considerably worse outcome for all involved than if prudent, carefully considered risk assessment and crisis management had been put in place.”
Sabsabi and Dagostino in a July 2 statement said that their recommissioning had renewed their confidence in “the integrity of its selection process,” further affirming that it “offers a sense of resolution and allows us to move forward with optimism and hope after a period of significant personal and collective hardship.”