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Farid Farid

Western Sydney artist duo represent Australia at Venice

Khaled Sabsabi (R), with Michael D'Agostino, says the conflict in Gaza is ever-present in his art. (HANDOUT/CREATIVE AUSTRALIA)

Multimedia artist Khaled Sabsabi took a white pebble from the Venice Biennale grounds last year in the hope that one day he would return.

His prophecy came true with Creative Australia announcing on Friday that he and long-time curator and collaborator Michael Dagostino will represent Australia's pavilion at the 61st Biennale.

The world's most prestigious art fair attracts around 500,000 visitors every year.

Sabsabi draws artistic inspiration from an eclectic variety of sources including the music of Prince, hip-hop pioneer Public Enemy's sobering lyrics, Sufi philosophers and the perennial heartbreak of supporting the Parramatta Eels.

His works have been exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW and biennales in Marrakech, Sydney, Shanghai and Sharjah.

The quietly spoken artist, who started off as a hip-hop DJ in the 1980s in the gritty streets of western Sydney transitioning to sound then multimedia, says his work takes time.

"For the past year and a half, I've been toiling with a lot of emotions and ideas and trying to work them in my studio... and then something clicked for me...it was the moment things became really clear," he said of his upcoming work for the Australian pavilion.

"One of my works took 10 years to move and I ended up with carpel tunnel in both of my hands, but that's my process, it is meditative," he noted.

A work  by visual artist Khaled Sabsabi,
The work of Khaled Sabsabi 'reflects the diversity and plurality of Australia's rich culture'. (HANDOUT/CREATIVE AUSTRALIA)

Sabsabi and his family migrated to Western Sydney in the 1970s after civil war broke out in Lebanon and this experience colours his artistic expression.

With family still in Lebanon and Palestinian relatives, the military onslaught on Gaza has been ever-present in his practice.

"I can't say much about the work but as a human being, as a Lebanese, as an Arab, as a Muslim, as an Australian what's been happening in Gaza is inhumane and unacceptable."

He uses everything from old TV screens to meticulously smearing different shades of coffee on massive canvases.

"It will be an inclusive place, it's a place that brings people together and I like to use the word nurturing," he explained of the tightly-guarded work that will be revealed in April 2026.

A work by Khaled Sabsabi who will exhibit at the Venice Biennale
Sabsabi's work will spark meaningful conversations around the world : Creative Australia. (HANDOUT/CREATIVE AUSTRALIA)

Michael Dagostino curated the artist's first exhibition over 25 years ago and since then has become a "sounding board" to his practice as it matured, always with western Sydney at its heart.

The director of the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney later exhibited Sabsabi's works at Campbelltown Arts Centre along with nurturing other western Sydney artists at Parramatta Artist Studios.

"Khaled Sabsabi's work, in collaboration with curator Michael Dagostino, reflects the diversity and plurality of Australia's rich culture, and will spark meaningful conversations with audiences around the world," said Creative Australia CEO Adrian Collette.

The duo said they were honoured to be following in the footsteps of Aboriginal artist Archie Moore, who became the first Australian to win the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Biennale last year.

Australia is one of only 29 countries with a permanent national pavilion in the Giardini (the Biennale's gardens).

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