The powers behind the dumping of Khaled Sabsabi as Australia’s artist in next year’s Venice Biennale were grilled at an Australian Senate estimates committee in Canberra yesterday.
Under questioning, chief executive officer of Creative Australia, Adrian Collette, conceded that Sabsabi had not been afforded the chance to have his say to the organisation’s board before it unanimously overturned his selection for the biennale earlier this month.
Sarah Hanson-Young, a senator for South Australia and member of the Australian Greens, said the rescinding of Sabsabi’s appointment had brought Australia “international shame” and opened the door to “artists being used as political fodder”.
Hanson-Young went on the attack on behalf of artists. “The message is that if it gets too hard, if it’s too challenging, if it’s too political, you don’t have their back,” Hanson-Young said to Collette. “The artist deserved better. I think you failed dismally.”
Creative Australia has denied politicians’ involvement in the decision to terminate Sabsabi, with Collette responding to Hanson-Young that Creative Australia always had artists’ backs and would continue to do so.
An empty pavilion?
Collette went on to concede that the Australian Pavilion could be empty for Venice 2026, thanks to the artist selection controversy. Many artists have said they would not be willing to replace Sabsabi, but Collette confirmed that possible alternatives would be considered after Creative Australia could “draw breath”.
Senate estimates committees are for senators to conduct hearings into how the government is spending taxpayers’ money. Collette revealed that Sabsabi’s contract was only cancelled hours before the hearing, despite the board’s decision to remove him having been made almost two weeks ago, and that some or all of his and curator Michael Dagostino's fees—$100,000 and $50,000 respectively—would still be borne by taxpayers.
During a heated, two-hour questioning by various senators, Collette attempted to defend the sacking of Sabsabi and Dagostino by drawing attention to the wave of antisemitism which is gripping Australia in the wake of conflict in the Middle East. Collette said Australia was going through a time of daily threats to social cohesion and that Sabsabi's works, made almost 20 years ago, had the "potential to trigger divisive narratives".
The works Collette referred to were Thank You Very Much, depicting imagery of the 9/11 attacks on New York, and You, depicting the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Even though he and the Creative Australia board had dropped Sabsabi, Collette said the Lebanese-born Sydney artist was “highly respected”. “We appointed him in the best possible faith. We think he’s a tremendous artist,” Collette said.
Sabsabi and Dagostino released a statement almost 24 hours after the hearing, stating that they were “profoundly saddened” by their removal from the biennale and asking for a public apology from Creative Australia—not only to themselves but to the wider arts sector.
The two men thanked their supporters and declared their continued commitment to “presenting this work in Venice and ensuring that the voices and ideas behind it are not silenced”. Details of the project remain under wraps.
