The controversy centered on two earlier works, including “You,” which was completed in 2007 and featured blurred imagery of Hassan Nasrallah, a former leader of Hezbollah. The work was in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia since 2009 without complaint.
After an article in The Australian voiced concerns that the works were divisive, a conservative senator, Claire Chandler, brought the work up in parliament, suggesting it was evidence of Sabsabi promoting terrorism and antisemitism. “With such appalling antisemitism in our country,” Chandler argued, “why is the Albanese government allowing a person who highlights a terrorist leader in his artwork to represent Australia on the international stage at the Venice Biennale?” Creative Australia held a board meeting and revoked the commission.
“In March 2025, Khaled’s career looked in tatters,” Simon Mordant recalled in a phone interview. Mordant, a philanthropist and former Venice Commissioner, publicly resigned as Australian Ambassador for the Biennale the night the commission was revoked. “But he is about to be celebrated as a hero in Venice,” he added.
After a widespread outcry from the arts community, an independent review was held. It ultimately identified missteps in the Creative Australia decision, and the organization apologized to the artist and curator.
Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, who directed the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia for more than two decades and first encountered Sabsabi when he was a community worker, was among the most vocal defenders. “The way he was described, the way they insinuated he was supporting terrorism, it was just despicable,” she said.
“His whole philosophy is about unifying communities and trying to create harmony. It’s how he lives, and that’s how his art is,” Macgregor said. “For those who say we shouldn’t have chosen an artist from the Middle East at this particular point in time, well, if not now, when?”
