Yesterday, Khaled Sabsabi was dropped as Australia’s consultant on the Venice Biennale, a transfer that has generated widespread controversy and a number of resignations at Artistic Australia, the group that facilitates the Australian Pavilion.
Sabsabi was dropped alongside his curator, Michael Dagostino, after the Australian newspaper highlighted a previous work by the Lebanese-born artist that featured the likeness of a Hezbollah chief. The Australian article claimed that selecting Sabsabi to signify Australia was a “artistic type of racism.”
After being dropped by Artistic Australia, Sabsabi and Dagostino issued a joint assertion on social media during which they appeared to match the state of affairs to censorship. They wrote, “Artwork shouldn’t be censored as artists mirror the occasions they reside in. We consider within the imaginative and prescient of artists for an inclusive future that may carry us collectively to speak and progress our shared humanity. We additionally consider that, regardless of this choice, the Australian artwork world is not going to dim or be silent.”
Along with commissioning the Australian Pavilion on the Venice Biennale, Artistic Australia is without doubt one of the largest funding our bodies within the artwork world, awarding grant cash to organizations such because the Biennale of Sydney, Australia’s most necessary recurring artwork reveals, the place Sabsabi is a board member.
An outcry shortly swelled on social media and within the ranks of Artistic Australia, which has reportedly seen two resignations: Mikala Tai, who led the group’s visible arts operations, and Tahmina Maskinyar, a program supervisor. The Guardian first reported information of the resignations on Friday.
The Guardian additionally reported that Simon Mordant, an funding banker who has appeared on ARTnews’s Prime 200 Collectors checklist, will now not function worldwide ambassador for the Australian Pavilion. Mordant beforehand commissioned the pavilion earlier than publicly stepping away from the exhibition in 2017, saying that it was now not “in Australia or the artists’ greatest curiosity.”
Talking to the Guardian, Mordant known as the debacle surrounding Sabsabi “a really darkish day for Australia and the humanities.”
Artists shortly spoke out as nicely. On Instagram, the 5 artists who had been shortlisted for the 2026 pavilion—Dhopiya Yunupiŋu, Hayley Millar Baker, James Nguyen, Jenna Mayilema Lee, and Mel O’Callaghan—posted an open letter during which they known as for the reinstatement of Sabsabi’s pavilion.
“We consider that revoking assist for the present Australian artist and curator representatives for Venice Biennale 2026 is antithetical to the goodwill and hard-fought inventive independence, freedom of speech and ethical braveness that’s on the core of arts in Australia, which performs an important function in our thriving and democratic nation,” the artists wrote.
Worldwide artists echoed their phrases. Palestinian artist Emily Jacir, a previous Golden Lion winner on the Venice Biennale, wrote on Instagram, “Disgrace on Artistic Australia.” Iranian photographer Hoda Afshar wrote, “That is fascism.”
Australian artwork areas and funding our bodies additionally condemned the choice. West Area, a Melbourne artwork gallery that has acquired Artistic Australia funding, denounced the group’s choice, writing in a press release, “We advocate for the integrity of the unbiased evaluation course of, and for Artistic Australia to stay dedicated to supporting excellent and various Australian artwork with out concern. Our collective future is at stake. The long-term unfavorable influence on modern follow and culture-making on this nation—and our worldwide status—can’t be overstated.”
The Nationwide Affiliation of Visible Arts additionally raised concern about how the choice would possibly influence the Australian artwork scene extra broadly, writing in a press release, “This intervention—pushed by political stress and misrepresentation—undermines the integrity of unbiased arms-length arts funding and threatens the important function of artists in shaping crucial dialogue and public discourse.”
