Creative Australia’s decisions should be peer reviewed and at arm’s length. Where did things go wrong?

For the past three weeks the arts have been dominated by a recent decision made by the board of Creative Australia. On February 7 it was announced Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino had been chosen as the artistic team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2026.

One week later, the board announced Sabsabi and Dagostino would no longer be representing the country because their selection would cause “a prolonged and divisive debate”.

This about-turn represents a low point in the relationship between artists and their funding body, Creative Australia.