‘This could have all been avoided’: how Creative Australia allowed itself to be blind-sided over its Venice Biennale pick

Artist Richard Bell at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. ‘This should have all been avoided,’ Bell says of the controversy around fellow artist Khaled Sabsabi. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

A week after Creative Australia controversially dumped artist Khaled Sabsabi as Australia’s representative for the 2026 Venice Biennale, Richard Bell still can’t understand the decision.

The Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang Gurang artist has a long history with the Venice Biennale and Australia’s peak arts funding body – in 2019, he crashed the prestigious showcase after being passed over to officially represent Australia. He’s shocked that Creative Australia would allow itself to be blind-sided by criticism of Sabsabi’s past work, and its refusal to answer predictable attacks with a nuanced conversation.