logo
Creative Australia apologise after Khaled Sabsabi reinstatement ahead of 2026 Venice Biennale

Creative Australia apologise after Khaled Sabsabi reinstatement ahead of 2026 Venice Biennale

The Australian2 days ago
The head of Australia's arts funding body has backtracked and issued an apology to two artists who were sacked as representatives to the Venice Biennale, before being reinstated in a major backflip.
Artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino were initially selected as the artistic team to represent the Australian Pavilion at the internationally-renowned 2026 arts festival held in Venice, Italy.
But in February the pair were controversially dumped by Creative Australia after questions were raised in parliament about previous artworks by Mr Sabsabi.
Michael Dagostino is the director of the Campbelltown Arts Centre. Picture: Supplied
Khaled Sabsabi with his works at Mosman Art Gallery. Picture: Supplied
Following a review released on Thursday that found 'a series of missteps, assumptions and missed opportunities' in the decision-making process the artist and curator were reinstated.
Opposition arts spokeswoman Claire Chandler cited the artworks in parliament, and hours later the creative agency had backflipped on the pair's appointment.
One of the works showed footage of the September 11 attacks spliced with a clip of George W. Bush saying 'thank you very much'.
Another contained depictions of then-Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Creative Australia acting chairman Wesley Enoch has since apologised to Mr Sabsabi and Mr Dagostino for the 'hurt and pain that they've gone through in this process'.
Wesley Enoch AM, Acting Chair of Creative Australia. Picture: Creative Australia
He acknowledged the 'personal cost' that Mr Sabsabi and Mr Dagostino had paid in this saga.
Mr Enoch reiterated the board had gone through a 'very rigorous process' which found reinstating the pair was 'the best option'.
One former board member, sculptor Lindy Lee, quit the board at the time in protest of Mr Sabsabi and Dagostino's sacking.
She told the ABC because of Mr Sabsabi's background his artwork was misinterpreted as supportive of Nasrallah.
Coalition Arts spokesman Julian Leeser has been critical of the decision to reinstate Mr Sabsabi, telling RN Breakfast he thought Creative Australia had made 'the wrong decision' the reinstatement.
Opposition arts spokesman Julian Leeser said he thought that Creative Australia had made 'the wrong decision'. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
'The representative of Australia on the world stage should reflect our values and to reinstate this artist as our representative at the Biennale and to give them taxpayer funds I think flies in the face of those values,' he said.
Mr Leeser did not make clear which values he thought Mr Sabsabi and Mr Dagostino did not represent, however he went on to reference the artists' works as having a 'history of presenting terrorist leaders'.
He cited declining social cohesion as a reason that 'particularly at this time, this is the wrong person to be representing our country'.
Mr Sabsabi has consistently maintained that his works do not promote terrorism – a view that was backed by Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke following the board's about-face.
Arts Minister Tony Burke supported the pair's reinstatement. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
'The report has shown that these works have not been regarded in any way, as promoting those involved with terrorism – the artist has made the same thing clear.
'If anything, the body of evidence says that these works are the exact opposite of something that could be seen to promote terrorism.
'Bearing that in mind, it makes complete sense that Creative Australia have recommissioned Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino. Their decision has my full support.'
For their part, the artist-curator pair have accepted their reinstatement and said they will 'recommit ourselves fully to this project'.
Brendan Kearns
Cadet Journalist
Brendan Kearns is a cadet journalist with News Corp Australia. He has written for The Australian, the Herald Sun, the Geelong Advertiser, CHOICE, Cosmos, and The Citizen. He won Democracy's Watchdogs' Student Award for Investigative Journalism 2024 and hosted the third season of award-winning podcast Uncurated. He studied as Master of Journalism at The University of Melbourne, before that he worked as a video producer and disability worker.
@brendandkearns
Brendan Kearns
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Goth basketballer wears full face of makeup for games
Goth basketballer wears full face of makeup for games

News.com.au

time34 minutes ago

  • News.com.au

Goth basketballer wears full face of makeup for games

She's the black sheep of the game and she knows it. With a full face of make-up every time she takes to the basketball court, Goth athlete Caitlin Cunningham makes no apologies for being the standout. In fact, she relishes in the spotlight and hopes she is a role model for other aspiring athletes – or anyone too afraid to be their authentic selves. 'I've always had heavy eye shadow and a very black goth aesthetic every single game I've played in my life, that's just me, some people get it, some don't,' Cunningham told 'I've always just messed around with makeup. Then last season I did a bit of a crow, extended the eye lines out. I always thought it would be cool to have full clown makeup, but I guess this is the next level down. I have quietly extended it,' she said. How does she keep her artwork intact for the full two hours of play? 'I guess I'm lucky I have never been much of a sweater,' she said. Cunningham said being the odd one out wasn't always easy. 'I was definitely the black sheep of the sport. Basketball in Australia is very political. I was always the odd one out, misunderstood, the one the coaches didn't get. 'I wouldn't be selected, wouldn't be a favourite. It got to the point where I stopped playing WNBL for a while.' Drafted to the Canberra Capitals at 19 after three years at the Australian Institute of Sport, Cunningham moved to Adelaide then Dandenong in Victoria, gradually became 'sick and tired' of people not believing in her. 'I thought 'f**k this' and started going out and hanging out with music friends and friends in fashion, other creative people and I just stepped away from the game, I was 25,' she said. Once the pandemic hit, and imports couldn't enter the country, Cunningham had several coaches asking her to reconsider her retirement. She took a contract on the Gold Coast and is now signed to Rockhampton in central Queensland. 'My style of game? I'm quite tall and skinny and these days a lot of players are heavy and strong girls,' Cunningham said. 'I'm like a little rat that runs and jumps, my game is pure athleticism. 'I don't have the physical brute but I am very tricky, agile and I can shoot.' Cunningham has the balance just right – living in Melbourne where she is continuing her music career and is soon to release her first song, personal training clients and working with youth at the YMCA, then flies to Rockhampton for matches and training. 'I'm really lucky I am doing it all, following all my dreams,' she said. 'I want people to know they should follow their dreams, do what they love, be their authentic self,' she said. As her online fan base increases exponentially, Cunningham takes her job as a role model extremely seriously. 'I have so many fans and people reaching out to me as a player, but also as a musician and as a person,' she said. 'I'm a queer Goth and if I had that person on the internet to look up to when I was young I would have felt so seen. 'It's empowerment, that's what life is about, having people that inspire you to be you, and live the best life you can, that's priceless.'

The inside story of how Australia's moment to shine in the arts world went horribly wrong
The inside story of how Australia's moment to shine in the arts world went horribly wrong

The Age

timean hour ago

  • The Age

The inside story of how Australia's moment to shine in the arts world went horribly wrong

The historic grip of major galleries over Australia's representatives had been broken, and the newish selection process seemed to be serving Australia well. On December 16 last year, Collette and Creative Australia's head of visual arts, Mikala Tai, conferred and the pair's selection was confirmed, the decision tightly held in the organisation for weeks for fear it would leak. Among the select few with knowledge of the successful team, the decision was regarded as 'bold' or 'courageous' – Sabsabi's Lebanese heritage and public pro-Palestinian stance connected him to the Middle East at a time when conflict in that region was emotive and polarising. But a week before the planned February 7 announcement, police lobbed their own explosive device into this febrile mix, going public with their investigations into a caravan loaded with explosives in north-west Sydney. The incident was quickly labelled a 'terrorism threat', although later the Federal Police would describe it as 'a criminal con job'. By then, a federal election was imminent and polling showed voters were starting to turn against Labor. Loading Two days after the caravan discovery, Creative Australia briefed Minister for Arts Tony Burke on its upcoming announcement. Mention was made in the ministerial dispatch that Sabsabi, along with other artists, had withdrawn from the Sydney Festival in 2022 in protest after the festival accepted funding from the Israeli Embassy, 'out of solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause'. But the minister's office was not alerted to historical works which would later be raised in the Murdoch press and in parliament, including You (2007), a multichannel video and sound installation featuring imagery of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art. 'That the work was seen as highly ambiguous, and already nearly 20 years old … appears to have given staff confidence that any controversy connected with the work could be managed,' the report says. A staff member later left a message with Burke's office alerting them to the work's existence but appears not to have followed that call up. A 'questionable' matter The board of Creative Australia was backgrounded on the winning team but played no direct role in the selection process. Members were not alerted to any potential controversies. Days after the team's announcement, as its sister tabloid paper defended allegations it tried to entrap a Sydney cafe in an antisemitic sting, The Australian described Sabsabi's use of imagery of Nasrallah as 'ambiguous' and 'questionable'. Collette and senior members of his team were unaware of a second sensitive work, Thank you very much (2006) featuring imagery of the 9/11 attacks and US President George W. Bush, until Senate question time two days later when the Coalition's then-shadow arts minster Claire Chandler rose to her feet. By all accounts, Chandler's questions sparked panic. Soon after, around 3pm, the CEO, chair and head of public affairs held a call with Creative Australia's external communications advisers, who concluded the negative media narrative around the artist and his prior artworks posed a significant risk to the reputation of Creative Australia if the stories continued to run. Burke then called Adrian Collette at 3.30pm asking why he was not alerted to the contentious artwork. He later insisted he did not demand Sabsabi's head. The report found that the minister's statement was consistent with the information received by the panel during its review. Loading Collette later recalled in testimony to Senate estimates: 'We anticipate always that the selection of the Venice artist will be controversial. It has been from time immemorial. 'Everyone has a view on the artist, on the art. We don't resile from any of those decisions; we haven't in the past. But what happened at that moment was a recognition by me and the board that this entire process was going to be mired in the worst kind of divisive debate.' At 6.05pm an emergency meeting of the board had been convened, and it was determined to offer the artistic team the opportunity to withdraw from the project under threat of sacking. The board did not seek the advice of the head of visual arts or its head of communications, and did not allow the artist to present his case. It was beyond the panel's terms of reference to judge the legitimacy of the board's decision, but it's clear the board acted hastily without drawing breath. The board could have announced a review of the team's selection. Instead, it brought a gun. 'Nobody except those involved can ever know how fraught and heartbreaking that meeting was,' board member and artist Lindy Lee later recalled. She resigned the next day. Officially, the board said it acted to avoid the unacceptable risk to public support for Australia's artistic community of a 'prolonged and divisive debate'. The panel found the board felt compelled by 'a strongly negative narrative [that] was expected in the media around the artworks and the artist, and the decision to select the artist had become a matter of political debate'. Another factor that may have been weighing on some board members was the potential for the controversy to be used as a battering ram to reduce the funding and independence of Creative Australia. With an election imminent, Creative Australia faced an existential threat from cuts, real or imagined, as conservatives made every noise they would follow the playbook of Donald Trump in stirring up the culture wars. Notably, it is in a more benign political environment with Labor securing a thumping majority that Sabsabi and Dagostino have now been reinstated. In any event, at 7.41pm on February 13, Collette contacted the artistic team and advised them of the board's decision. Sabsabi and Dagostino refused to resign. Forty minutes later, after the board's statement was prepared, Collette made three unsuccessful attempts to contact them. Sabsabi and Dagostino later recalled being stunned by the turn of events: 'The Venice Biennale is one of the biggest platforms in Australian art,' Sabsabi told this masthead. 'To be selected and then have it withdrawn was devastating. It was heartbreaking and has caused ongoing anxiety. It's had a serious impact on my career, my wellbeing and my family's wellbeing.' By 6pm the following day the Herald had broken the news that philanthropist Simon Mordant had resigned, along with Mikala Tai and program manager Tahmina Maskinyar. Petitions and protests followed, the outrage lasting four months until the board voted two weeks ago to rescind its decision. Had Creative Australia been as well-prepared for the public announcement as it should have been, it is possible that its senior leadership and board may have reached a conclusion that any controversy around both works could be sensibly managed, the report concluded. The organisation was caught between its conflicting desire to do right by the artists and political realities. Ultimately, the entire mess could have been avoided if cooler heads had prevailed and due processes were followed. Changes afoot Former publisher Louise Adler is not the only commentator to draw parallels between the Sabsabi debacle and Antoinette Lattouf, the radio broadcaster who was last week awarded $70,000 after a Federal Court found she was unfairly sacked by the ABC for her political opinions concerning the war in Gaza. Like Lattouf, Sabsabi's pro-Palestinian views were well known at the time of his appointment, and complaints flooded Creative Australia as soon as the appointment was publicised, cheered on by the Murdoch media. Holding or expressing a political opinion was held by the federal court as not a valid reason for terminating Lattouf's employment, even at the national broadcaster. Sabsabi and Dagostino had been selected by an open expression of interest process, by an organisation founded on the principle of artistic independence. Both stand as an abject lesson to the dangers of knee-jerk reactions to pressure tactics. Sabsabi and Dagostino speak of a sense of renewed confidence that allows them to move forward with optimism and hope after a period of significant and collective hardship. The arts world feels vindicated by their intervention. Loading It's likely there will be changes to the Venice selection process, and there is every indication that Collette, an experienced arts administrator, will seek to make things right, and then make a diplomatic exit. 'At the end of the day, Adrian became the kingmaker,' said one campaigner. 'He brought the recommendation to the board. The buck stops with him.' Mikala Tai made a rare statement via social media after a period of media silence in which she said she had come to learn why she wanted to work in the arts industry. 'I have also learnt a lot about cultural leadership. That we have conferred leadership on administrators and that this is a distraction from the fact that artists remain the heart of the industry and that the moment we forget the artist, we sacrifice the industry.'

'Clean air, less traffic, fresh food—Australia is a privilege': Bianca King on the joys of slow living and family life in Australia
'Clean air, less traffic, fresh food—Australia is a privilege': Bianca King on the joys of slow living and family life in Australia

SBS Australia

time5 hours ago

  • SBS Australia

'Clean air, less traffic, fresh food—Australia is a privilege': Bianca King on the joys of slow living and family life in Australia

Filipina actress Bianca King moved to Australia to start a new chapter with her husband and embrace a quieter, more mindful lifestyle. Bianca King has built a strong presence in Philippine television through diverse roles in popular series such as Mulawin as Aviona, Sinner or Saint as Noemi Manansala, and Luna Blanca as Luna. She also took part in well-known dramas like MariMar, My Only Love, and Dyesebel Motherhood reshaped her priorities, leading her to focus on balance, presence, and well-being. While her days no longer revolve around showbiz tapings, Bianca hasn't stopped creating. She's shifted behind the scenes—writing, filming, and producing thoughtful digital content that reflects her values. Bianca first arrived in Australia in March 2020 for what was meant to be a two-month stay—just as global borders closed due to the pandemic. 'There was an option to go back home,' she said, 'but at the time, life in Australia felt like the better choice.' Soon after, she got married and began building a new life in a country she now sees as a blessing. Now a mother and passionate advocate of mindful living, Bianca finds purpose in everyday rituals—slow mornings, nourishing food, movement, and time with family. I've always lived simply and mindfully—long before it became trendy. Bianca King, Actress Long before wellness and sustainability became buzzwords, Bianca had already built her life around conscious choices. Her transition to life in Australia only deepened that mindset. 'Living here made me realise I'm not a city person,' she explained. 'We gravitated toward the countryside, where we could be close to nature, breathe clean air, and raise our daughter with space to grow.' Now raising a toddler in Australia, Bianca says her days revolve around rhythm, routine, and presence. 'A typical day starts at 5 a.m. before my daughter wakes up. That's my time to work quietly, to think, or edit content. Then it's all about her until nap time—when I work again.' Bianca sees returning home as a way to reconnect with her roots and enjoy the rich social and cultural bonds that are harder to find abroad. Bianca's passion for mindful living has shaped both her personal life and career. She curates her online space, Bianca King, with intention. The space is filled with beautiful imagery, recipes, and stories that reflect her love for home life and wellness. With a degree in filmmaking, she now creates content for Australian brands—mostly product-based, off-camera work that allows her to stay true to her values and manage her own time. 'I'm a professional mother and wife—but I still have personal goals. I'm ambitious. I've been working since I was 10, and I still want to create and contribute.' Letting Go of the Rat Race Though she no longer works in mainstream entertainment, Bianca says she's more fulfilled now than ever. 'I'm not in the rat race. I don't chase social status. I value peace, presence, and time with my daughter. The things I care about now are so different from what I used to value.' Still, she hasn't closed the door on her past life—or her dreams. 'Just because I'm content doesn't mean I've stopped dreaming. I'm always manifesting, always open to what's next.' 📢 Where to Catch SBS Filipino

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store