The decision of Australia to drop the artist Khaled Sabsabi, born in Lebanese as a representative for the Biennale of 2026, has caused a commotion with a series of dismissal and petitions signed by hundreds.
Creative Australia, the country’s board, announced yesterday on 13 February that it had withdrawn the appointment of Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino last week as the artistic team of the Pavilion. The decision followed an article in the newspaper De Australian And a parliamentary distribution that took part of the earlier work of Sabsabi under the microscope with again observed images of the recently murdered Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the attacks of 9/11.
Today, various high officials and employees of Creative Australia said they resigned in response to the decision of the board. Mikala Tai, who has helped the visual art department of the organization for the past four years, said the Guardian That she had submitted a letter of resignation to Chief Executive Adrian Collette “to support the artist.” She was accompanied by program manager Tahmina Maskinyar, who criticized and told the lack of “due diligence” of Creative Australia Guardian She was “deeply discouraged that at any time the voice of the artist was taken into consideration” during the decision -making process. The UK News Outlet also reported that former Biennial Commissioner of Venice, Australian investment banker Simon Mordant, resigned as an international ambassador for the event and took his financial promise from the pavilion to support Sabsabi.
“It’s a very dark day for Australia and the art,” he said, also proposed to empty the country’s pavilion in solidarity with Sabsabi.
Creative Australia refused to give further comments.
In addition to the dismissal, the nominated artistic teams for the Biennale pavilion from 2026 issued a letter in which it was recommended for the recovery of Sabsabi and Dagostino. The Missive, addressed to the Creative Australia Board, drawn attention to the “rigorous and professionally independent open-call process” with which Sabsabi and Dagostino were selected. They added that the same process led to the appointment of Bigambul-Mamilaroi artist Archie Moore and curator Ellie Buttrose, who were the first Australian team that won the Golden Lion Award for their presentation Friends and Relatives In last year’s Biennale.
“We believe that withdrawing support for the current Australian artist and representatives of the curator for Biennial 2026 of Venice is antithetic for goodwill and hard -fought artistic independence, freedom of expression and moral courage that plays the core of art in Australia , who plays a crucial role in our thriving and democratic nation, “reads the open letter posted on Instagram.
This letter was accompanied by another signed, from this letter, By more than 800 artists, cultural employees, writers and educators. Published in the Melbourne -based art criticism platform Memo reviewRepeated the second missive calls to reappoint Sabsabi and Dagostino and accused Creative Australia of ‘artistic censorship’.
“If Creative Australia can not even stay a selection by expert by hours and can leave his own process with the first sign of pressure, which says that about his dedication to artistic excellence and freedom of expression?” The letter reads.
