After the Sabsabi debacle, Creative Australia must learn to embrace controversy

The Guardian

17 hours ago

After months of angst and uproar in the arts, the decision has finally been reconfirmed: Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino will represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2026. An independent report, which was initially only tasked with reviewing the selection process and not the board's decision to rescind the appointment, has identified the 'missteps' of that decision and the board has had the courage to respond accordingly.
There will be some detractors but I have no doubt that when the work is unveiled next year, all the preconceived fears will be laid to rest.
The question now is: how can Creative Australia rebuild confidence in its role in supporting the visual arts? The report raises some red flags with regard to the selection process for future Venice Biennales – for example, among all the well-intentioned recommendations about risk management, it says the future selection process will need take into account what 'could be so polarising and divisive as to have a material impact on the ability of Creative Australia to discharge effectively its statutory functions'.
This phrase is troubling. As a museum director of many years experience, I am well aware of how hard it is to predict what will stir up controversy. And what is genuine community concern, as opposed to media beat-up? People may be surprised to learn that complaints about content in artworks are rare and usually driven by those who have not seen the work. Creative Australia will have to demonstrate that prejudging what might cause offence does not lead to the bland and the boring.
The report also references the tensions between artistic freedom and Creative Australia's responsibility towards the wider community. I do not believe that there needs to be such a distinction. We should have a funding body that supports artists to make work that is critical and demanding as well as organisations that make the bridge between this work and a wider public, who do have an appetite for contemporary art. The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, where I was once director, became the most visited museum of contemporary art in the world, while putting artists and artistic excellence at its core.
But there is more to be done in the immediate aftermath of this debacle. What we need is strong leadership from Creative Australia in relation to the visual arts.
Why does this matter? It matters because in the age of artificial intelligence, creativity will be a driving force of the future. AI relies on human creativity and educational experts have identified creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and empathy as the skills and qualities that employers of the future will be seeking. These are the very skills that working with art and artists can contribute to society.
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We also need support for galleries as we face the challenges of a society dominated by social media. Over a decade ago I sat on a panel discussing the impact of new technology on the arts and a panellist announced that, in future, art would be online and galleries redundant. We would all sit at home viewing art through ever more sophisticated gadgets. It has not happened.
Social media instead can drive audiences to galleries – there is a strong desire for a shared, real experience to combat the world of the virtual. Why do visitors still flock to see works of art such as the Mona Lisa? Online representations are not enough – audiences want the power of the real, often a shared experience. Galleries in Australia and around the world can attest to this interest, especially from young people. Galleries can and still should be safe places for the discussion of difficult issues through the work of artists.
There is now an opportunity for Creative Australia to take the lead and review the ecology of the visual arts across the country and to overcome the perception that it is an agency for the performing arts. We have seen a renewed focus on literature and music, so why not visual arts? It has been more than 20 years since the Australia Council's Myer inquiry into contemporary visual arts and craft, which focused on the organisations it funded, not the whole sector; I have long thought that our regional galleries, for example, play a vital role in engaging audiences with new work. A new strategic framework for the visual arts, with a commitment to respecting peer review in selection processes, could transform Creative Australia's relationship with the sector and restore confidence.
What Australia needs is a visionary federal agency that works closely with all levels of government and other funders, respected for its commitment to artists. Instead of shying away from controversy, a strong agency would embrace it and work to engage the public. Art does matter – if it didn't, why all the recent outrage?
Elizabeth Ann Macgregor is a curator and art historian and was the director of MCA Australia until 2021.