The reinstatement of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia’s representatives for the 2026 Venice Biennale closes a bruising recent cultural episode and exposes the fragility of the systems meant to protect artistic freedom in Australia.

An independent review released this week confirms this was not simply a communications misstep.

It was a full-scale institutional failure inside Australia’s peak cultural agency, Creative Australia, marked by poor risk management, inadequate escalation protocols, and a fundamental confusion about how to respond when artistic expression meets political controversy.

Khaled Sabsabi. Photo © Anna Kucera

What triggered the collapse

The crisis began in February, just six days after Sabsabi and Dagostino were announced as Australia’s representatives.

In a sudden reversal, Creative Australia’s board rescinded their appointment.

At the centre of the backlash were two of Sabsabi’s earlier works – one referencing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the other depicting a view of the Twin Towers on 9/11.

A still from Khaled Sabsabi’s 2007 work You. Photo courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

Coalition senator Claire Chandler raised the issue in Parliament. That evening the...