High-profile artists and curators stunned by Creative Australia’s swift abandonment of Khaled Sabsabi, the art community, and the complex nature of art itself
A week after Creative Australia controversially dumped artist Khaled Sabsabi as Australia’s representative for the 2026 Venice Biennale, Richard Bell still can’t understand the decision.
The Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang Gurang artist has a long history with the Venice Biennale and Australia’s peak arts funding body – in 2019, he crashed the prestigious showcase after being passed over to officially represent Australia. He’s shocked that Creative Australia would allow itself to be blind-sided by criticism of Sabsabi’s past work, and its refusal to answer predictable attacks with a nuanced conversation.
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