Creative Australia postpones major awards in wake of Venice furore​on February 25, 2025 at 12:33 am

Creative Australia has indefinitely postponed a major award at short notice on the same day it is due to front parliament justifying its board’s controversial decision to drop Australia’s representative for the Venice Biennale.

The arts agency cited regard for the “wellbeing of all involved” as the reason for the delay to the Asia Pacific Arts Awards, scheduled for March 3 at Arts Centre Melbourne.

“While we regret any inconvenience this may cause, this decision has been made to support the wellbeing of all involved, as we feel it is important to take a pause during this time,” it wrote to the 30 finalists.

The postponement comes amid unabated anger against the agency’s board after it withdrew its invitation to artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino from the prestigious Venice festival.

Fourteen Australian curators who have managed works in Venice have also penned an open letter on Tuesday calling for the pair’s reinstatement.

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“We are stunned that in these fraught times, the Creative Australia Board and CEO took no time to defend their decision against uninformed comments on Sabsabi’s early works by those who had not even seen them,” they said.

“Rather than fostering civil discussion of complex subjects, their reactive move has inflamed a polarised debate.”

The board made its snap decision on February 13, after the Coalition asked questions that day in the Senate about Sabsabi’s 2006 video rendering of the New York 9/11 attacks, called Thank You Very Much, and a 2007 work depicting former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.