Creative Australia ditches Venice Biennale duo over Hezbollah chief image
By Liz Hobday
An artistic duo selected to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale has been unceremoniously dumped by the federal government’s arts funding body.
A week ago, artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino were announced as the pair selected to show at the 2026 Biennale, regarded as contemporary art’s most prestigious event.
Artist Khaled Sabsabi (right) and curator Michael Dagostino.Credit: Steven Siewert
But The Australian newspaper revealed Sabsabi’s early work includes images of Hassan Nasrallah, who led the terrorist organisation Hezbollah until his death in 2024, as well as images of aircraft hitting the Twin Towers in the 9/11 attacks.
The Creative Australia board decided unanimously not to proceed with the artistic team, the funding body said in an announcement late on Thursday night.
“Creative Australia is an advocate for freedom of artistic expression and is not an adjudicator on the interpretation of art,” it said in a statement.
“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.”
Creative Australia also said it would review the selection process for the Venice Biennale.
Liberal senator Claire Chandler told parliament on Thursday that Sabsabi had featured Nasrallah in his artworks, and questioned why he should get a taxpayer-funded trip to Venice.
“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?” she asked.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong responded that she had not been aware of the issue but agreed any glorification of Nasrallah was inappropriate.
Sabsabi was born in Lebanon and migrated to Australia in 1978 after civil war broke out in his home country. He is now based in western Sydney.
In 2023, he won a Creative Australia Award recognising his contribution to the nation’s visual arts, and in 2024 was awarded a sought-after Mordant Family and Creative Australia Affiliated Fellowship to Rome.
Sabsabi’s work is held in numerous collections including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Campbelltown Arts Centre and Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art.
A Sabsabi video installation from 2007 in the museum’s collection features Nasrallah speaking as his image is altered by shards of light, and splinters into a mosaic.
In April 2024, Australia won the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for the first time, with Archie Moore’s artwork kith and kin.
AAP
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