Latest news with #KhaledSabsabi
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Creative Australia chair to retire following Khaled Sabsabi biennale controversy
The chair of Creative Australia is departing the organisation, with the arts minister, Tony Burke, announcing on Friday Robert Morgan's intention to retire. The First Nations playwright and creative director Wesley Enoch will serve as the acting chair and is expected to replace Morgan. Morgan presided over the controversial board meeting in February that voted to withdraw the 2026 Venice Biennale commission from Lebanese-Australian arts Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino. Two weeks later Morgan fronted Senate estimates with Creative Australia's chief executive, Adrian Collette, where the pair gave evidence that the board made the decision to cancel Sabsabi's commission because it feared a 'prolonged and divisive debate'. Both told the Senate hearing they would not resign, despite admitting that the Australian Pavilion could remain empty at next year's biennale as a result of the board's decision. Morgan and the board also faced public criticism from more than 600 of Australia's most recognised writers, publishers and academics in an open letter that accused them of compromising Creative Australia's integrity. The organisation is now in the midst of an independent review examining the governance processes behind the Sabsabi commission and the board's subsequent decision to withdraw it. Announcing Morgan's intention to retire on Friday, Burke said the chair had played a pivotal role in the transition of the Australia Council to Creative Australia, and implementing the Labor government's national cultural policy Revive. In a statement Morgan said his four years in the position had been a great honour. 'I have great confidence Creative Australia will continue to deliver its mandate to support Australia's rich and diverse cultural life for all Australians under Wesley's leadership,' he said. The Guardian has contacted Morgan for further comment.
AU Financial Review
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- AU Financial Review
Monash Uni backflips on Sabsabi show as Muslim campuses protest
Monash University's Museum Of Art will proceed with a show featuring controversial artist Khaled Sabsabi that it had postponed, with advocacy from students at its Indonesian and Malaysian campuses a factor in the decision. The Melbourne institution in March postponed Flat Earth, a show curated by Sydney-based publishing collective Stolon Press and including works by Sabsabi, the Sydney-based Muslim artist whose contract to represent Australia at 2026's Venice Biennale was rescinded by federal arts body Creative Australia, after the uncovering of early works depicting terrorism.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Khaled Sabsabi show to go ahead after Monash University finishes ‘consultations'
An exhibition featuring works by Lebanese Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi that was called off by Monash University in March will open to the public next week, with the university announcing it had reversed its decision. Monash University 'postponed' Stolon Press: Flat Earth at Monash University Museum of Art (Muma) in Melbourne in the wake of Sabsabi being dumped as Australia's representative at the 2026 Venice Biennale. It was the first time a show had been pulled in Muma's 50-year history. The exhibition, originally scheduled to open on 8 May, includes large 'spiritual' calligraphic paintings by Sabsabi that he has made with Lebanese coffee and draw on his 'personal memories of his childhood in Lebanon during the civil war'. At the time of the postponement, a spokesperson for Monash claimed 'consultation with our communities' had revealed that Muma needed 'to deepen its collaboration and engagement on this exhibition. Postponing the event will allow this important work to be undertaken.' Sources told Guardian Australia they feared the timing indicated the decision had been influenced by federal arts body Creative Australia's cancellation of Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino's contract to represent Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale. That decision followed days of pressure from the Australian newspaper and Liberal politicians over Sabsabi's use of footage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in old works. Sabsabi's participation in a mass boycott of the 2022 Sydney festival over the sponsorship of an event by the Israeli embassy was also singled out by the Australian, amid a wider increased scrutiny of public figures who criticised Israel's conduct in Gaza or spoke in support of Palestine after the start of the Israel-Gaza war. Sabsabi has always fiercely rejected any claim that his work promotes antisemitism or terrorism, calling the suggestion 'disgusting'. Thousands of artists and art experts have called on Creative Australia to reverse its decision. On Tuesday, Monash University confirmed Stolon Press: Flat Earth will open at Muma on 29 May, saying it was 'postponed by Monash University while the university conducted consultations with Monash students and community.' Monash has so far not detailed the reasons why it needed to conduct consultations or why that required the postponement of an exhibition 18-months in the making. The exhibition is curated by Stolon Press, a Sydney-based art and publishing collective run by Simryn Gill and Tom Melick, and also features works by writer and anthropologist Elisa Taber. Days after Flat Earth was cancelled, Sabsabi told Guardian Australia Creative Australia's decision was 'dismantling' his career and impacting his wellbeing. 'Nobody should have to go through this torture,' he said. 'It's unfair and it's put on by Creative Australia and those people that made that decision … essentially gave the go-ahead to define me as somebody who I am not.' Creative Australia said it sacked Sabsabi and Dagostino to avoid a 'prolonged and divisive debate' – but the decision provoked a storm of backlash in the art world, as well as a broader conversation about the pillorying of public figures who not only voiced criticism of Israel, but even those who spoke in support of Palestinians.
The Guardian
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘A lot of pride and joy': the First Nations team representing Australia at the Venice Biennale of Architecture
Australia's participation in next year's Venice Biennale remains under a cloud. With Creative Australia holding fast to its decision to cancel its commission of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, it's becoming increasingly likely that the Australian Pavilion might remain dark in 2026. It is an added weight for the First Nations team who have unveiled their new creation inside the pavilion as part of Venice's other biennale: the Venice Biennale of Architecture, held every other year in the Giardini. The seven designers, collectively working under the moniker The Creative Sphere, are the first all Indigenous team Australia has sent to Venice. Tasked with introducing Indigenous concepts of building, design and connection to Country to the world, they have painstakingly reconstructed their rammed-earth, 4.8 metre by nine metre prototype called Home, first created at the University of Sydney. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Hand-built from scratch from sustainable materials – clay, plaster and plywood – sourced from within the Veneto region, Home's construction relied on barges travelling up Venice's canals and off-loading at the base of the Australian pavilion's elevated site. From there, wheelbarrows and makeshift ramps were the only means of transporting the building materials inside. Home's walls are made from 139 individually cast plaster panels, each of which required a minimum of five to six people to make. 'The oils of our skins are embedded throughout this entire exhibition,' says Worimi and Biripi Guri architect Jack Gillmer-Lilley, of SJB Architecture in Sydney and part of The Creative Sphere. It is his hope that Home will encourage each visitor to the Australian Pavilion to embrace their unique relationship with the concept of home. 'For me, the definition keeps changing, it's not tangible,' he says. 'I never had a stable home growing up. There was lot of family trauma, there's a lot of stories of happiness, a lot of sadness and we were always moving around. Home for me is where I can feel connected with my family, regardless of where in the world I am at the time.' For Quandamooka architect Bradley Kerr, home used to be 'where Mum is'; now the father-of-two defines home as wherever he can 'share in his son's smile and stupid fart jokes'. 'We didn't want to impose a feeling or an image or an idea on to people,' he adds. 'We wanted people to find something they relate to and connect to, because for us as First Nations people, it's one of the ways that we relate to and connect with each other, and it's something that we felt we really needed to share within this space.' The Creative Sphere team were working when the news broke that Sabsabi and Dagostino had been sacked by Creative Australia, the producers of their biennale project (with the Australian Institute of Architects, which commissions them). The architects shared a statement in solidarity with the artist, writing on Instagram: 'As First Nations people, we respond to this act of censorship, exclusion and marginalisation with disappointment and concern.' Although the project never started with it in mind, Home became the team's response to the defeat of the voice referendum in 2023. 'We're still trying to demonstrate that we want to move forward together, and that we want to celebrate and share our culture with Australian people,' says Kerr. 'We want to continue to be generous, in spite of all the backlash, the racism that we have to manage and juggle and face on a daily and weekly basis. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion 'People want, and expect, marginalised people to feel all of that deep sadness and trauma. But our strength comes from joy, in spite of all of the challenges that we face. Joy in itself can be an act of resistance.' Last year, a primary school in Sydney's Darlington took out the highest prize at the World Architectural festival in Singapore, praised for its celebration of the school's 'strong connections to Aboriginal people' and its incorporation of Indigenous art and design . The same architectural firm, FJC Studio, also designed the Yellamundie library in south-west Sydney, which was named one of the world's four most beautiful new libraries in September. While only 0.3% of architecture students graduating from Australian universities identify as First Nations, multiple projects recently recognised by the AIA have incorporated connection to country at the centre of their design, including Spinifex Hill Project Space, Mildura's Powerhouse Place, Darwin's Nungalinya student accommodation project, and the North Head viewing platforms. 'We're getting stronger and stronger engagement with Indigenous place, country and the influence of Indigenous thinking around how buildings work … and how they actually speak to the significance of a place,' former AIA president Stuart Tanner told the Guardian in December. 'This is a whole other layer to architecture which is going to, I believe, elevate Australian architecture to a level far beyond what traditionally people might think architects do.' When the Venice Biennale of Architecture concludes, Home will be manually dismantled, all its materials returned to the landscape they came from. No screws, adhesives or metal fixings were used in Home's construction. 'It was a tough build,' Gillmer-Lilley says. 'The amount of energy, the amount of emotions that were put in the creation of this … but it gives us a lot of pride and joy in the outcome.'
The Guardian
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Embattled Creative Australia boss served angry letters from staff and 600 literary figures amid Sabsabi fallout
The embattled head of Creative Australia has been served with two letters of complaint collectively written by staff, and a third signed by more than 600 Australian literary figures. The fallout over Creative Australia's decision in February to withdraw the artistic team of Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino from next year's Venice Biennale continues, with its chief executive, Adrian Collette, now on leave and an inquiry under way into the circumstances surrounding the selection and subsequent sacking of the pair as Australia's representatives. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter More than 40 Creative Australia staff – about half anonymously – signed a letter sent to Collette late last month,saying the organisation had displayed 'deficiencies in leadership' including a 'lack of transparency, ineffective decision making and mismanagement of the [Sabsabi-Dagostino] situation.' Workplace culture and safety had been eroded to the point where staff and artists feared 'discrimination and victimisation based on political, religious or cultural backgrounds', the letter continued, creating what they called an 'unworkable environment'. 'We believe that the current leadership has not acted in the best interest of Creative Australia, its staff or the artists it serves. This letter serves as a clear and unequivocal statement of our complete lack of confidence in your ability to lead this organisation effectively.' Collette responded to staff last week, saying he recognised the disappointment and distress they had experienced over the rescinding of the artistic duo's Venice contract, and that he had discussed the letter with the board and his executive colleagues. He went on to urge all staff to participate in the independent review being conducted by outside governance and risk management firm Blackhall & Pearl, which would examine 'the processes leading to the commission and its subsequent rescission'. Previous interpretations of the inquiry's terms of reference had led many staff and the public to believe only the selection process – not the board's decision to overturn the advisory panel's selection – would be investigated. A Creative Australia spokesperson clarified this on Wednesday. 'The review won't take a view on whether the decision to appoint the artistic team was right or wrong, or whether the decision to rescind the commission was right or wrong,' they said. 'However, it may identify areas for improvement in how we make ongoing and future decisions about the Venice Biennale.' Collette's letter to staff prompted a second letter in response, saying some employees had expressed concerns regarding safety and security over participating in the inquiry, and about what repercussions that might have on their future employment. The response demanded a representative of the Community and Public Sector Union be included in the process, as well as the appointment of a cultural mediator. Creative Australia told Guardian Australia it remained committed to promoting a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace. 'We acknowledge some staff have expressed concerns, and we continue to maintain an open dialogue,' the statement said. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'Consistent with the published terms of reference, as stated publicly and in communication with staff, [the Blackhall & Pearl review] includes consideration of the governance processes that led to the commission and its subsequent withdrawal.' The chief executive also responded to a published letter signed by some of the Australia's most recognised writers, publishers and academics, including JM Coetzee, Omar Sakr, Charlotte Wood, Michelle de Kretser, Melissa Lucashenko, Anita Heiss, Michael Robotham and Hilary McPhee. The letter accused the board of compromising Creative Australia's integrity and demonstrating its bias by stating it sought to avoid 'prolonged and divisive debate' after a misrepresentation of Sabsabi video works made almost 20 years ago, made 'by a right-wing media outlet'. 'The implications of political censorship for artists working in all sectors including literature are enormous: not only can we be damned for work made decades ago; we can also be dismissed for work we have yet to create,' the letter said. In Collette's response, he restated what he gave in evidence at a Senate estimates hearing on 25 February. The selection process had 'fallen short' he wrote, but 'had not failed on artistic grounds'. 'Art has always occupied the complex and often uncomfortable space where competing perspectives and social pressures intersect,' he said. Maintaining social cohesion was a national priority, he added, and the board made the call to rescind the commission because it was at 'significant risk' due to public debate and scrutiny surrounding some of Sabsabi's previous works. The open letter said the board's decision to pull the commission was evidence of increasing discrimination against Australian writers of Arabic, Muslim and West Asian heritage. 'It aligns with a long history of censure levelled against artists from other minority groups when creating work that interrogates power,' it said. 'We are frightened that more artists will lose opportunities based on prejudice, robbing the general public of powerful, affecting work.' Collette said Creative Australia condemned any form of racism or discrimination. '[We] reaffirm out commitment to fostering an arts sector that is inclusive, respectful and reflective of the diverse voices that shape contemporary Australia,' he said.
