The acting chair of Creative Australia has apologised to Khaled Sabsabi and his curator Michael Dagostino for the “hurt and pain” caused by the decision to rescind theirVenice Biennalecommission, and said their artworks had been “mischaracterised”.
Wesley Enoch, who took over from a retiring Robert Morgan three months after the then chairtold a Senate estimates hearinghe would not be resigning over the controversy, apologised to Sabsabi and Dagostino live on air on Thursday, telling ABC RN the artist’s work was not about the glorification of terrorism, as suggested in parliament in February.
“Those who mischaracterise the work aren’t being honest to the intention of the work or the practice that this artist has, who is an incredibly peace-loving artist in the way that they construct their images,” he said.
“To Khaled and Michael – I’ve done it in person, but to say it here very publicly, I want to apologise to them for the hurt and pain they’ve gone through in this process.”
An independent external review by Blackhall & Pearl into Creative Australia’s actions in cancelling Sabsabi’s commission found there was no single or predominant failure of process, governance or decision that had occurred, but there were “a series of missteps, assumptions and missed opportunities that meant neither the leadership of Creative Australia, nor the board, were well placed to respond to, and manage in a considered way, any criticism or controversy that might emerge in relation to the selection decision”.
The report did not go as far as to list among its nine recommendations the reinstatement of Sabsabi and Dagostino.
The arts minister, Tony Burke, said on Wednesday he had told Creative Australia’s chief executive Adrian Collette last week that he would support whatever decision the organisation made in the wake of the report’s release.
But the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said although the decision to reinstate Sabsabi and Dagostino was the right one, it was “a terrible day for the board and CEO of Creative Australia who have disgraced themselves throughout this ordeal”.
“It is clear that the leadership of Creative Australia needs a clean out in order to rebuild trust within the artistic community and the Australian public,” she said in a statement.
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Also calling for Creative Australia and Burke to “explain themselves” over the backflip was the Liberal MP and shadow minister for the arts, Julian Leeser, who told ABC RN on Thursday that there was “nothing in the report [that] suggested that they needed to remake that decision”.
“One of the reasons that [Creative Australia] made their decision back in February to withdraw this is because they were concerned about issues in relation to the broader Australian community,” he said.
“I believe those issues continue to remain, and I believe that Creative Australia should not have unmade their decision that they previously made back in February to withdraw Mr Sabsabi from this exhibition,” he said, adding that Burke needed to explain “how at this time, with this antisemitism crisis that Australia has faced, where we’re a multicultural country, why this particular artist who has this particular history is being chosen to represent our country at this time and receive taxpayer funding to do so”.
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Sabsabi and Dagostino welcomed the reversal of the decision on Wednesday, saying “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”.
Philanthropist and prominent arts advocate Simon Mordant resigned as Australia’s International Ambassador for the 2026 Venice Biennale after the announcement of Sabsabi and Dagostino’s removal. The resignation ended 30 years of active involvement in the Biennale, including two previous terms as commissioner and leader of the fundraising drive for the new Australian Pavilion in Venice.
On Wednesday Mordant confirmed that the pair’s reinstatement had led to his re-acceptance of the role, and described Creative Australia’s decision as “a watershed moment for the Australian arts community, whereby we can work towards eliminating any form of racism including antisemitism across the arts industries”.
“I am confident that the work presented will reflect the highest artistic standards and align with the values I have always upheld – integrity, inclusion, and respect,” he said, going on to reaffirm his position on upholding ethical boundaries in artistic representation.
“I would never knowingly support an artist or art that glorifies terrorism, racism or antisemitism or went against my values,” he said.
The chief executive of the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) Penelope Benton, who was highly critical of Creative Australia’s initial decision to cancel the commission, said despite the “messy turn of events”, Creative Australia’s willingness to admit it had got it wrong would go a long way to renewing trust in the transparency and integrity of Australia’s principal arts funding body.
“Artistic freedom and independent decision-making are fundamental to the role of a national arts body,” she said.