Artist reinstated to biennale after Hezbollah artwork furor
by Adam Schrader · UPIJuly 2 (UPI) -- Australia has reinstated Lebanese-born artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino to represent the country at the 2026 Venice Biennale after they were dropped earlier this year over furor at decades-old artworks depicting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Creative Australia, the country's national arts and cultural funding and advisory body, announced the decision Wednesday to reinstate Sabsabi and Dagostino after an external report commissioned to examine its decision-making and risk management processes.
The firm Blackhall & Pearl, which conducted the review, found that the board of Creative Australia had exercised its judgment in accordance with its obligations outlined by federal law and that there was "no single or predominant failure of process" when the invitation to Sabsabi and Dagostina was rescinded in February.
"There were, however, a series of missteps, assumptions and missed opportunities," Creative Australia said in its statement. It did not specify what those might have been.
But after Sabsabi and Dagostino were dropped from the Venice Biennale, artists and other institutions expressed support for the artist-curator duo as Creative Australia staffers resigned in protest.
Investment banker and cultural philanthropist Simon Mordant resigned from his role as an international ambassador for the Australian Pavilion and criticized the decision at the time and called it "a very dark day for Australia and the arts" in comments to The Guardian. Mordant will also return to his role.
"The board has considered and reflected deeply on all relevant issues to find a path forward," acting board chair Wesley Enoch said in a statement. "The board is now of the view that proceeding with the artistic team, Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino represents the preferred outcome."
The controversy stemmed from new attention to resurfaced works by Sabsabi made in 2006 and 2007, including one video installation featured images of Nasrallah in a speech after the 2006 war with Israel and another compiled video clips of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and former President George W. Bush.
After Creative Australia announced that Sabsabi had been selected, a column in The Australian criticized the decision and pointed to the two works by Sabsabi that it particularly deemed controversial.
"We don't know exactly what Sabsabi feels about Nasrallah, or his death, or what he meant by taking a bunch of beams and shining them out of Nasrallah's face, or painting him on a watercolor, as he did for a separate exhibition," the authors wrote in The Australian.
"But, we do know how Sabsabi feels about Israel: he was one of several artists who boycotted the 2022 Sydney Festival after its organizers committed the grievous sin of accepting $20,000 in funding from the Israeli Embassy to pay for a production put on by an invited Israeli choreographer."
Sabsabi and Dagostino released a joint statement Wednesday after learning of the decision to reinstate them to the pavilion.
"This decision has renewed our 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 wrote.
"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. Their solidarity, belief, and encouragement sustained us throughout this difficult time, making it possible for us to continue our work and remain in a position to accept this recommission."