Australia’s representation at next year’s Venice Biennale is looking grim, with Creative Australia admitting there’s a chance the pavilion may be empty after it rescinded its original selection.
To recap, the agency has been copping some serious heat from Australia’s art community in recent weeks after it chose to walk back on its selection of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino following questions in parliament about Sabsabi’s previous work.
The sudden decision on February 13 — which came just six days after the selection was first announced — notably followed inquiries over Sabsabi’s 2006 video Thank You Very Much which depicts the 9/11 attacks and a 2007 work that features former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Appearing in a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday, Creative Australia’s chief executive Adrian Collete explained the contract was officially cancelled earlier that day, blaming delayed legal advice.
It’s understood some or all of the team’s fee will be borne by taxpayers.
“We absolutely acknowledge we have financial obligations to the artist and the curator, so the taxpayer has to fund it,” Collette said, per the Guardian.
“The taxpayer funds everything we do.”
Moreover, given a number of artists have sworn not to replace Sabsabi — the five other shortlisted artists for the Biennale calling for Sabsabi to be reinstated — Collette admitted there’s a possibility Australia’s Venice Biennale pavilion might be empty in 2026.
Potential alternatives would be explored once Creative Australia “drew breath”, he said.
“We will be doing everything we can…to think about how we use what is a public pavilion to mount something of that is worthy in terms of its representation of Australia,” he stated.
“But we have to draw breath and work out how we are going to approach this singular situation.”
Facing the late-night inquiry in Canberra, Collette indicated he and Robert Morgan, chair of Creative Australia’s board, would not resign over recent events.
He elaborated neither he, nor any of Creative Australia’s board, had been aware of Thank You Very Much before it was raised in the Senate.
This was because searches of artist back-catalogues are not typically conducted and had not been carried out in previous years, as reported by The Australian.
“There wasn’t a thorough search of 30 years of artistic enterprise, thousands of images, before we made the decision to appoint [them],” Collette said.
However, he said he was already aware of Sabsabi’s 2007 piece featuring Hassan Nasrallah, which had been on display at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art for “well over a decade”.
Sabsabi’s almost 10-minute video featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia. (Source: MCA website)
“I don’t doubt it’s a controversial piece … it’s been viewed by thousands and thousands and thousands of people,” he said. By contrast, the board did not deem the 9/11 video as simple to explain and contextualise amid the “relentless daily threats to social cohesion”.
Creative Australia chair Morgan also told the hearing the 9/11 imagery was regarded as “an untenable risk to the organisation” and had to be addressed at the time as a matter of urgency.
It’s understood Collette contacted Western Sydney artist Sabsabi and University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum director Dagostino to inform them of the impending meeting on February 13, and again to inform them of the outcome later that evening, although the pair did not get an opportunity to address the board themselves.
In their own statement earlier this month, the pair have voiced their disappointment with Creative Australia’s decision, 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.
“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)
The decision also triggered a wave of resignations from its organisation, including board member Lindy Lee; Mikala Tai, who led the agency’s visual arts department for over four years; program manager Tahmina Maskinyar; and investment banker Simon Mordant, who resigned from his position as an international ambassador for the 2026 event.
Amid the fallout, Creative Australia has postponed the 2025 Asia Pacific Arts Awards, which were slated to be announced on March 3, citing the wellbeing of all involved and the importance of taking “a pause during this time”.
Lead image: Instagram / AAP Photos
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