The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia is the first major arts institution to publicly back the artist and curator who were picked for the Venice Biennale - and then sensationally ditched.
Western Sydney artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino had been chosen to represent Australia at the prestigious event in 2026.
But they were uninvited by federal funding body Creative Australia within days of their appointment, following questions in parliament about Sabsabi's early artworks.
The Museum of Contemporary Art has now joined widespread support in the art world for Sabsabi and Dagostino, although it has not called outright for their reinstatement.
"This withdrawal has major ramifications for the arts in Australia and the reputation of Australia in the world at a time when creating space for diverse artist voices and ideas has never been more important," it said.
"MCA Australia is concerned by the lack of transparency in Creative Australia's process," the gallery said in a statement.
The museum holds three works by Sabsabi in its collection, including one singled out by media and in parliament, a 2007 video titled You.
It was made just after the Lebanon war between Hezbollah and Israel and features images of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
His image is transformed by shards of light and multiplies into many pictures, accompanied by discordant sounds.
"With such appalling anti-Semitism 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?" asked Liberal Senator Claire Chandler in parliament on February 13.
Within hours, the Creative Australia board decided to overturn Sabsabi and Dagostino's appointment, prompting resignations from the board and staff of Creative Australia.
There is no statement by the artist to suggest the artwork You is a glorification of terrorism, according to MCA director Suzanne Cotter.
"It is a work that draws upon the artist's lived experience and addresses the power of the image over words and the ways in which visual media in service of ideology are part of everyday lives," she said.
The video was made when Hezbollah's external security wing had been recently listed as a terrorist organisation by the Australian government, but years before the organisation as a whole was proscribed in 2021.
"Works of art are an expression of the times in which they were made. The heightened cultural tensions of the present should not determine the validity of a work of art created at another moment in time," said Cotter.
Leading art critic Sasha Grishin describes it as a moving artwork and says while Sabsabi is a socially aware artist, he is not an ideological one,
"To actually walk away from that piece, saying this is a hymn of praise for Hezbollah, is just ridiculous," Grishin told AAP.
The second Sabsabi artwork seized on by commentators is a 2006 video titled Thank You Very Much, which shows parts of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, followed by a clip of George W Bush repeating "Thank you very much".
Grishin describes the artwork as ironic and ambiguous: "I can't really see anything in it that would be seen as an expression of sympathy for al-Qaeda or any other banned organisation," he said.
"He's very much saying what's happening in the world is bad, we have to open the channels for communication... we have to coexist together."
The Museum currently receives money from Creative Australia under its four-year funding program and through a touring exhibition support program.
But the Sydney gallery is strapped for cash and was recently forced to introduce a $20 entry fee.
