After Venice backflip, arts agency grants Khaled Sabsabi $100,000 commission

Artist Khaled Sabsabi has received a $100,000 grant from Creative Australia for a new exhibition, months after the agency reinstated him as the Venice Biennale representative for 2026 following his controversial axing.

The grant will allow the western Sydney-based artist to create a major new work for the Samstag Museum of Art in Adelaide. Details of the commission are under wraps, but it must be unveiled by the end of June 2027.

The announcement from Creative Australia makes no mention of the high-profile debacle that followed Sabsabi’s appointment to Venice, when he was sacked just days later.

Together with curator Michael Dagostino, Sabsabi was in February announced as Australia’s representative for the prestigious event. But the invitation was abruptly revoked after a series of questions in parliament from senator Claire Chandler, then the opposition arts spokeswoman, about several of Sabsabi’s older works.

After months of concerted lobbying and a slew of resignations – including two from Creative Australia – Sabsabi was reinstated as Australia’s representative for Venice. Despite a review into what happened, questions remain about how the decision to overturn his appointment was initially reached.

The chair of the federal arts agency, Robert Morgan, stepped down three months after the controversial sacking.

Sabsabi’s grant is one of Creative Australia’s visual arts, craft and design framework major commissioning projects. The program supports 16 artists and collectives across the country to deliver new projects, providing them $100,000 each.

“The new commission will offer Australian audiences the opportunity to experience a major new body of work from the highly acclaimed artist, following his international presentation at the Venice Biennale,” Creative Australia’s press release said.

Erica Green, director of the Samstag Museum of Art, says Sabsabi’s work transcends politics. She has a longstanding interest in his work, which she says “talks about the bigger issues of our shared humanity”.

“I think that they are extremely important discussions and I believe that art and galleries can provide context for presenting and exploring those issues. For that reason, he was selected to represent Australia at Venice.”

“He is able to transcend divisive issues – he is talking about conflict in the Middle East and [Islamic] culture and presents it in a way that provides an informed view.”

Green commissioned Sabsabi as part of the 2018 Adelaide Biennial of Art, Divided Worlds.

An acclaimed multimedia artist who migrated to Australia with his family from Lebanon during the country’s 1975-1990 war, Sabsabi has taken strong political positions on the conflict in Gaza. He is the first Lebanese-Australian artist selected to represent Australia at the biggest global event on the arts calendar.

Also among those to receive funding from the federal arts body are the Australian National University’s Dr Baden Pailthorpe, who will collaborate with former AFL star Adam Goodes on a major new commission exploring sport, identity and cultural history.

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