Creative Australia awards Khaled Sabsabi $100,000 grant months after dumping from Venice Biennale

Creative Australia’s unprecedented decision to revoke Khaled Sabsabi’s Venice Biennale commission prompted resignations from within the organisation and a massive backlash from the arts community. Photograph: Bec Lorrimer/The Guardian

Creative Australia has awarded a $100,000 grant to artist Khaled Sabsabi, months after he was controversially dumped and then reinstated by the federal arts body as Australia’s representative for the 2026 Venice Biennale.

The grant – one of 16 made under Creative Australia’s Visual Arts, Craft and Design Framework – will fund the creation of a new body of work for a solo exhibition opening in March 2027 at Adelaide’s Samstag Museum of Art, which will also include Sabsabi’s Venice Biennale work.