Why did Creative Australia backflip on Venice Biennale decision?
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The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Little trust in Creative Australia after Venice snafu
Trust in Australia's principal arts funding body Creative Australia has reached an all time low in the wake of the Venice Biennale controversy, according to culture sector researcher Ben Eltham. In February, the body axed artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as its picks for the Venice Biennale, prompted by Sabsabi's early works being raised in federal parliament. Creative Australia announced the pair had been reinstated on Wednesday. The Biennale is regarded as the Olympics of the art world, with Australia winning the prestigious Golden Lion - the equivalent of a gold medal - for its official showing at the last event in 2024. An independent review of the episode commissioned by Creative Australia revealed cowardice and incompetence at the agency, Eltham argued. "The sector's trust is at an all time low, it's poisoned the well," he said. "There's deep suspicion of Creative Australia's integrity in the wake of this controversy." The review by consultants Blackhall and Pearl found Creative Australia has a "considerable task" ahead to rebuild trust with parts of the creative community and some of its own employees. Sabsabi's gallerist Josh Milani also agreed trust has been "greatly diminished", but said the decision to reinstate the artistic team will allow healing to begin. "Creative Australia have chosen to act - if they hadn't, I think there would be an absolute outcry now ... it would seem that we're on a path towards rebuilding trust." Senior staff at Creative Australia resigned in the immediate aftermath of the decision, while board chair Robert Morgan retired in May, replaced by acting chair Wesley Enoch. Creative Australia has a federal budget allocation of $312 million for 25/26 and hands out grants across all areas of the creative arts under the leadership of chief executive Adrian Collette, who was reappointed for a second five year term in January 2024. The review does not make specific findings against Collette or anyone else, but it found arts minister Tony Burke had not been properly briefed on Sabsabi's early artworks, before they were questioned in parliament in February. It also revealed a divided workplace at the agency, in which visual arts and communications staff operated in silos and held differing views on who was responsible for risk identification and management. Legislation sets out Creative Australia's duty to uphold freedom of expression in the arts, but the review found it also has a responsibility under separate laws to promote "the proper use and management of public resources". Eltham believes this leaves the door open for more controversies like the Venice Biennale saga in future. "If they're going to start to test arts grants against some nebulous value for money or public accountability criteria, that opens all sorts of avenues for grants to be cancelled or uncommissioned," he said. The former director of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Max Delany, has also argued the review fails to deal with critical underlying issues and causes. "Chief among these is the pernicious, vexatious, and corrosive influence of lobbyists, conservative media, and culture warriors on our public discourse and on the integrity of our cultural institutions—forces that remain largely unexamined in its findings," he said. Creative Australia had learnt from the review, Adrian Collette said in a statement issued via email. "The decision the Board took in February has weighed heavily on many people, most particularly the artistic team and for that we are sorry," he said. "We are also sorry that this has caused concern and uncertainty for many in the broader arts community and we are committed to rebuilding trust in our processes for the commissioning of the Venice Biennale." Trust in Australia's principal arts funding body Creative Australia has reached an all time low in the wake of the Venice Biennale controversy, according to culture sector researcher Ben Eltham. In February, the body axed artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as its picks for the Venice Biennale, prompted by Sabsabi's early works being raised in federal parliament. Creative Australia announced the pair had been reinstated on Wednesday. The Biennale is regarded as the Olympics of the art world, with Australia winning the prestigious Golden Lion - the equivalent of a gold medal - for its official showing at the last event in 2024. An independent review of the episode commissioned by Creative Australia revealed cowardice and incompetence at the agency, Eltham argued. "The sector's trust is at an all time low, it's poisoned the well," he said. "There's deep suspicion of Creative Australia's integrity in the wake of this controversy." The review by consultants Blackhall and Pearl found Creative Australia has a "considerable task" ahead to rebuild trust with parts of the creative community and some of its own employees. Sabsabi's gallerist Josh Milani also agreed trust has been "greatly diminished", but said the decision to reinstate the artistic team will allow healing to begin. "Creative Australia have chosen to act - if they hadn't, I think there would be an absolute outcry now ... it would seem that we're on a path towards rebuilding trust." Senior staff at Creative Australia resigned in the immediate aftermath of the decision, while board chair Robert Morgan retired in May, replaced by acting chair Wesley Enoch. Creative Australia has a federal budget allocation of $312 million for 25/26 and hands out grants across all areas of the creative arts under the leadership of chief executive Adrian Collette, who was reappointed for a second five year term in January 2024. The review does not make specific findings against Collette or anyone else, but it found arts minister Tony Burke had not been properly briefed on Sabsabi's early artworks, before they were questioned in parliament in February. It also revealed a divided workplace at the agency, in which visual arts and communications staff operated in silos and held differing views on who was responsible for risk identification and management. Legislation sets out Creative Australia's duty to uphold freedom of expression in the arts, but the review found it also has a responsibility under separate laws to promote "the proper use and management of public resources". Eltham believes this leaves the door open for more controversies like the Venice Biennale saga in future. "If they're going to start to test arts grants against some nebulous value for money or public accountability criteria, that opens all sorts of avenues for grants to be cancelled or uncommissioned," he said. The former director of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Max Delany, has also argued the review fails to deal with critical underlying issues and causes. "Chief among these is the pernicious, vexatious, and corrosive influence of lobbyists, conservative media, and culture warriors on our public discourse and on the integrity of our cultural institutions—forces that remain largely unexamined in its findings," he said. Creative Australia had learnt from the review, Adrian Collette said in a statement issued via email. "The decision the Board took in February has weighed heavily on many people, most particularly the artistic team and for that we are sorry," he said. "We are also sorry that this has caused concern and uncertainty for many in the broader arts community and we are committed to rebuilding trust in our processes for the commissioning of the Venice Biennale." Trust in Australia's principal arts funding body Creative Australia has reached an all time low in the wake of the Venice Biennale controversy, according to culture sector researcher Ben Eltham. In February, the body axed artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as its picks for the Venice Biennale, prompted by Sabsabi's early works being raised in federal parliament. Creative Australia announced the pair had been reinstated on Wednesday. The Biennale is regarded as the Olympics of the art world, with Australia winning the prestigious Golden Lion - the equivalent of a gold medal - for its official showing at the last event in 2024. An independent review of the episode commissioned by Creative Australia revealed cowardice and incompetence at the agency, Eltham argued. "The sector's trust is at an all time low, it's poisoned the well," he said. "There's deep suspicion of Creative Australia's integrity in the wake of this controversy." The review by consultants Blackhall and Pearl found Creative Australia has a "considerable task" ahead to rebuild trust with parts of the creative community and some of its own employees. Sabsabi's gallerist Josh Milani also agreed trust has been "greatly diminished", but said the decision to reinstate the artistic team will allow healing to begin. "Creative Australia have chosen to act - if they hadn't, I think there would be an absolute outcry now ... it would seem that we're on a path towards rebuilding trust." Senior staff at Creative Australia resigned in the immediate aftermath of the decision, while board chair Robert Morgan retired in May, replaced by acting chair Wesley Enoch. Creative Australia has a federal budget allocation of $312 million for 25/26 and hands out grants across all areas of the creative arts under the leadership of chief executive Adrian Collette, who was reappointed for a second five year term in January 2024. The review does not make specific findings against Collette or anyone else, but it found arts minister Tony Burke had not been properly briefed on Sabsabi's early artworks, before they were questioned in parliament in February. It also revealed a divided workplace at the agency, in which visual arts and communications staff operated in silos and held differing views on who was responsible for risk identification and management. Legislation sets out Creative Australia's duty to uphold freedom of expression in the arts, but the review found it also has a responsibility under separate laws to promote "the proper use and management of public resources". Eltham believes this leaves the door open for more controversies like the Venice Biennale saga in future. "If they're going to start to test arts grants against some nebulous value for money or public accountability criteria, that opens all sorts of avenues for grants to be cancelled or uncommissioned," he said. The former director of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Max Delany, has also argued the review fails to deal with critical underlying issues and causes. "Chief among these is the pernicious, vexatious, and corrosive influence of lobbyists, conservative media, and culture warriors on our public discourse and on the integrity of our cultural institutions—forces that remain largely unexamined in its findings," he said. Creative Australia had learnt from the review, Adrian Collette said in a statement issued via email. "The decision the Board took in February has weighed heavily on many people, most particularly the artistic team and for that we are sorry," he said. "We are also sorry that this has caused concern and uncertainty for many in the broader arts community and we are committed to rebuilding trust in our processes for the commissioning of the Venice Biennale." Trust in Australia's principal arts funding body Creative Australia has reached an all time low in the wake of the Venice Biennale controversy, according to culture sector researcher Ben Eltham. In February, the body axed artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as its picks for the Venice Biennale, prompted by Sabsabi's early works being raised in federal parliament. Creative Australia announced the pair had been reinstated on Wednesday. The Biennale is regarded as the Olympics of the art world, with Australia winning the prestigious Golden Lion - the equivalent of a gold medal - for its official showing at the last event in 2024. An independent review of the episode commissioned by Creative Australia revealed cowardice and incompetence at the agency, Eltham argued. "The sector's trust is at an all time low, it's poisoned the well," he said. "There's deep suspicion of Creative Australia's integrity in the wake of this controversy." The review by consultants Blackhall and Pearl found Creative Australia has a "considerable task" ahead to rebuild trust with parts of the creative community and some of its own employees. Sabsabi's gallerist Josh Milani also agreed trust has been "greatly diminished", but said the decision to reinstate the artistic team will allow healing to begin. "Creative Australia have chosen to act - if they hadn't, I think there would be an absolute outcry now ... it would seem that we're on a path towards rebuilding trust." Senior staff at Creative Australia resigned in the immediate aftermath of the decision, while board chair Robert Morgan retired in May, replaced by acting chair Wesley Enoch. Creative Australia has a federal budget allocation of $312 million for 25/26 and hands out grants across all areas of the creative arts under the leadership of chief executive Adrian Collette, who was reappointed for a second five year term in January 2024. The review does not make specific findings against Collette or anyone else, but it found arts minister Tony Burke had not been properly briefed on Sabsabi's early artworks, before they were questioned in parliament in February. It also revealed a divided workplace at the agency, in which visual arts and communications staff operated in silos and held differing views on who was responsible for risk identification and management. Legislation sets out Creative Australia's duty to uphold freedom of expression in the arts, but the review found it also has a responsibility under separate laws to promote "the proper use and management of public resources". Eltham believes this leaves the door open for more controversies like the Venice Biennale saga in future. "If they're going to start to test arts grants against some nebulous value for money or public accountability criteria, that opens all sorts of avenues for grants to be cancelled or uncommissioned," he said. The former director of the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Max Delany, has also argued the review fails to deal with critical underlying issues and causes. "Chief among these is the pernicious, vexatious, and corrosive influence of lobbyists, conservative media, and culture warriors on our public discourse and on the integrity of our cultural institutions—forces that remain largely unexamined in its findings," he said. Creative Australia had learnt from the review, Adrian Collette said in a statement issued via email. "The decision the Board took in February has weighed heavily on many people, most particularly the artistic team and for that we are sorry," he said. "We are also sorry that this has caused concern and uncertainty for many in the broader arts community and we are committed to rebuilding trust in our processes for the commissioning of the Venice Biennale."
ABC News
8 hours ago
- ABC News
Why did Creative Australia backflip on Venice Biennale decision?
Unanswered questions remain after Creative Australia backflipped on a decision to dump renowned Lebanese Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia's representatives at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
