Australia Rescinds Their 2026 Venice Biennale Representative Selection

In 1978, in the midst of the Lebanese civil war, Sabsabi and his family migrated to Western Sydney, and he has stayed there ever since. Now, most of his art is inspired by the adversities he has faced, speaking to this theme of the migrant experience. 

However, just last Thursday, Creative Australia— the council serving to fund and advise the arts for the Government of Australia— announced their revocation of Sabsabi’s artist role in the 2026 Biennale. The council also dropped Michael Dagostino as the representative curator. 

This repeal was triggered by an article in the Australian, a major national newspaper in the country, in which controversial pieces of Sabsabi’s past art had resurfaced. The works were condemned for their inclusion of altered images of Hassan Nasrallah, the assassinated Hezbollah leader, and footage from the 9/11 attacks.

Creative Australia has declared that keeping the team in place would “[pose] an unacceptable risk to public support for Australia’s artistic community and could undermine our goal of bringing Australians together through art and creativity.”

Though the council stands by their decision to pull the team, it has resulted in great outcry. Creative Australia’s Director of Visual Arts Mikala Tai and former Venice Biennale commissioner Simon Mordant resigned in support of the artist, stating that they hope to leave Australia’s pavilion empty. 

In further solidarity, the shortlisted artists released a letter on Instagram criticizing the council’s decision and asking for a reinstatement of the artistic team. 

“We believe that revoking support for the current Australian artist and curator representatives for Venice Biennale 2026 is antithetical to the goodwill and hard-fought artistic independence, freedom of speech and moral courage that is at the core of arts in Australia, which plays a crucial role in our thriving and democratic nation.”

 

 

 

 

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Memo, a Melbourne-based art criticism journal, also started a petition to return Sabsabi and Dagostino to their roles. 

The petition questions, “If public pressure and political sensitivities of the day can determine – apparently within a matter of hours – Creative Australia’s support for artists after selection, what does this mean for future appointments, funding decisions, and the autonomy and credibility of Australian artists on the world stage?”

Around 3,000 creatives have already signed in support, including Bronwyn Bancroft, brothers Abdul-Rahman Abdullah and Abdul Abdullah, and even some who previously represented Australia’s Venice team, like Fiona Hall and Callum Morton.

Creative Australia has yet to respond.