Creative Australia has awarded a $100,000 grant to artist Khaled Sabsabi, months after he was controversially dumped and then reinstated by the federal arts body as Australia’s representative for the 2026 Venice Biennale.
The grant – one of 16 made under Creative Australia’s Visual Arts, Craft and Design Framework – will fund the creation of a new body of work for a solo exhibition opening in March 2027 at Adelaide’s Samstag Museum of Art, which will also include Sabsabi’s Venice Biennale work.
In August, Sabsabi was also awarded a grant by Create NSW for a major new work in western Sydney.
The two commissions represent a silver lining in a tumultuous year for Sabsabi, a Lebanese-Australian artist from western Sydney. In February, he and curator Michael Dagostino were announced as Australia’s representatives for the prestigious Venice Biennale; less than a week later they were sacked, after criticism by the Australian and the then shadow arts minister, Claire Chandler, over Sabsabi’s use of imagery in previous artworks of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
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Creative Australia’s unprecedented decision to revoke Australia’s Venice Biennale commission, which it said at the time was an attempt to avoid “divisive debate”, prompted resignations from within the organisation, including its head of visual arts, and triggered a massive backlash from the arts community. Among the high profile figures who publicly called for the reinstatement of Sabsabi and Dagostino were former Museum of Contemporary Art director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor and artist Archie Moore, winner of the Golden Lion at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
A month after Creative Australia sacked Sabsabi, Monash University announced that it had “indefinitely postponed” a group exhibition at Monash University Museum of Art (Muma) featuring his works, after “consultation with our communities”.
At the time, Sabsabi’s gallerist Josh Milani told Guardian Australia that Creative Australia’s decision to revoke the artist’s Venice contract had “set in motion the dismantling of his career and livelihood”.
“They have allowed the mischaracterisation of him as a terrorist sympathiser to go unchecked. It should be clear, he is against terrorism and violence in all its forms and he is against racism in all its forms, including antisemitism.”
Monash University later reversed its decision, allowing the exhibition to open in May. In July Creative Australia reinstated Sabsabi and Dagostino as Venice Biennale representatives, following an independent review that identified “missteps” in its decision. At the time, Creative Australia chair Wesley Enoch apologised to the artist and curator for the “hurt and pain” caused by the affair, acknowledging that Sabsabi’s work had been “mischaracterised”.
After their reinstatement, the duo said the decision had renewed their confidence in Creative Australia and “in the integrity of its selection process”.
“It offers a sense of resolution and allows us to move forward with optimism and hope after a period of significant personal and collective hardship,” they said in a joint statement.
“We acknowledge that this challenging journey has impacted not only us, but also our families, friends, the staff at Creative Australia, and many others across the broader artistic community here and abroad.
“We would not have reached this point without the unwavering support of the Australian and international creative community.”
