Local Artist Khaled Sabsabi ‘Hurt’ After Being Dropped As Aus Choice For Venice Biennale

Rhea Nath

Feb. 14, 2025, 3 a.m.

khaled sabsabi and michael dagostino

Creative Australia has rescinded its selection of Lebanese-born artist Khaled Sabsabi to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale next year, explaining the move will avoid “divisive debate”.

Sabsabi — alongside curator Michael Dagostino — was selected just one week ago to showcase their selection at the prestigious contemporary art event. Shortly after the announcement, he told The Guardian he was “shocked” at being chosen, explaining “I felt that, in this time and in this space, this wouldn’t happen because of who I am”.

The artist, a 2011 winner of the Blake Prize, holds a three-decade-long career in multimedia art and has previously appeared at festivals like the Sydney Biennale, Marrakech Biennale, and Shanghai Biennale, per the ABC.

However, Creative Australia was spurred to backpedal on its decision after the selection continued to draw criticism at question time in parliament this week.

Sabsabi migrated with his family to Australia in 1978 following the outbreak of civil war in Lebanon. (Source: Instagram)

On Thursday, Liberal Senator Claire Chandler questioned why Sabsabi was selected to represent Australia on a taxpayer-funded trip to Venice, pointing to his 2007 artwork that featured former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel in 2024.

The senator also described some of his repertoire as “promoting” Osama Bin Laden, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, and raised questions about his 2006 video montage called Thank You Very Much, which depicted the 9/11 attacks.

“With such appalling antisemitism in our country, why is the Albanese government allowing the person who highlights a terrorist leader in his artwork to represent Australia on the international stage?” Chandler said, per the Australian Financial Review.

Addressing the inquiries, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she had not been aware of the issue although she agreed any glorification of Nasrallah was not appropriate.

On Thursday, Arts Minister Tony Burke also told The Australian he was “not involved in the decision” and was “shocked to see some of the works which are online”.

Tony Burke MP pictured in the House of Representatives at Australian Parliament House on August 22, 2024. (Source: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

In a statement on Thursday night, the board of Creative Australia confirmed a unanimous decision to no longer proceed with their selection.

“Creative Australia is an advocate for freedom of artistic expression and is not an adjudicator on the interpretation of art,” it said.

“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.”

A review of the selection process will also be undertaken, it added.

Meanwhile, Western Sydney artist Sabsabi and the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum director Dagostino have voiced their disappointment with the move, noting art “should not be censored as artists reflect the times they live in”.

“We are extremely hurt and disappointed,” they said in a statement on Friday.

“We intended to present a transformational work at Venice, an experience that would unite all audiences in an open and safe shared space. This reflects and builds on the work we have done for decades and will do for many more”.

The pair have committed to still present the work on a global platform, with community support. (Source: Instagram)

While controversial, Sabsabi’s work has been viewed with a nuanced lens by some critics, with the Museum of Contemporary art describing the video installation featuring fractured images of Nasrallah as “purposefully ambiguous” and playing “on western fears of cultural difference”.

“It also suggests the all-pervasiveness of the public news media, and its ability to deify or vilify, and to generate suspicion or panic through the intensive repetition of imagery on our television screens, day in and day out,” it stated on its website.

Meanwhile, the title ‘Thank You Very Much’ also plays with ambiguity, the Guardian noted, in including a clip of then US President George W Bush using the phrase during a press conference.

In 2022, Sabsabi was among 20 artists to boycott the Sydney Festival over its sponsorship deal with the Israeli embassy.

Lead image: Anna Kucera / Creative Australia

The post Local Artist Khaled Sabsabi ‘Hurt’ After Being Dropped As Aus Choice For Venice Biennale appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .