Creative Australia ditches Venice Biennale artistic duo

The federal government’s arts funding body has ditched the artistic duo selected to represent Australia at the upcoming Venice Biennale.

Artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino were announced last week as the pair selected to show at the 2026 event, regarded as the Olympics of the contemporary art world.

But an investigation by The Australian newspaper revealed Sabsabi’s early work includes images of a notorious terrorist leader, and of aircraft hitting the Twin Towers in the 9/11 attacks titled, Thank You Very Much.

In an announcement late on Thursday night, Creative Australia said its board had made a unanimous decision not to proceed with the artistic team.

“Creative Australia is an advocate for freedom of artistic expression and is not an adjudicator on the interpretation of art,” it said in a statement.

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“However, the board believes a prolonged and divisive debate about the 2026 selection outcome poses an unacceptable risk to public support for Australia’s artistic community and could undermine our goal of bringing Australians together through art and creativity.”

Creative Australia also said it would review the selection process for the event.

In April, Australia won the prestigious Golden Lion at the biennale for the first time, with Archie Moore’s artwork kith and kin.