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The Latest Breaking News from the Venice Biennale

‘The doorbell went at 5am. Six masked men were outside’: Belarus Free Theatre bring totalitarian terror to the Venice Biennale

They’ve been imprisoned, tortured and spied upon. Now dissidents from Europe’s last dictatorship are bringing the sights, sounds, smells and even tastes of brutal repression to the world’s biggest festival of art

The Guardian - UK

Reopening of the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale: EU threatens to cut funding

In a letter addressed to the president of the Venice Biennale, the European Commission has threatened to freeze €2 million to the cultural institution in response to the reopening of the Russian pavilion.

Euronews

MEPs urge Commission leaders to stop Russia from returning to the Venice Biennale

MEPs have urged European Commission leaders to prevent Russia from participating in the Venice Biennale. The move has been backed by Ukraine's foreign policy chief who says "Russia rejects all proposals to end the war and rejects the dialogue that the organizers of the exhibition claim."

Euronews

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The lost sea: Venice Biennale pavilion set to explore Aral Sea environmental disaster

Once the world’s fourth-largest inland sea, the Aral has lost more than 90% of its volume since the 1960s and is now, largely a desert. At the Venice Biennale, a national pavilion will revisit the environmental disaster through art, folklore and collective memory.

Euronews

After a turbulent year, Australia’s Khaled Sabsabi will present two works at the Venice Biennale

The artist, who was controversially revoked and then reinstated by his government, is planning a ‘nurturing experience’ to bring people together

The Guardian - AU

Tove, Frida and Schiaparelli: The 10 unmissable exhibitions and art events of 2026

Next year brings blockbuster shows from the Venice Biennale to a Frida Kahlo retrospective, plus the Middle East's most exciting new art fair.

Euronews

Little trust in Creative Australia after Venice snafu

Trust in Creative Australia is at an all-time low due to the Venice Biennale controversy, but the decision to reinstate the artistic team may bring healing.

AAP

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The takeaway from the Venice Biennale saga: the art world faces deep and troubling structural inequality

Creative Australia’s decision earlier this year to rescind the selection of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino as Australia’s 2026 representatives at the Venice Biennale sent shockwaves through the arts sector.

The Conversation

Restore Venice artist's name or be sued, says gallerist

Artist Khaled Sabsabi has suffered personally and professionally since Creative Australia rescinded his commission for the Venice Biennale, his gallerist says.

AAP

Ditched art duo drum up cash for Venice project

After Creative Australia rescinded their Biennale commission, Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino are fundraising for an independent artwork in Venice instead.

AAP

Mass letter urges arts minister to act over Venice snub

Protests against the dumping of Australia's art team for the Venice Biennale continue, with hundreds of artists and curators demanding government action.

AAP

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.

The Conversation

Call for resignation of arts chief after fiery hearing

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has called for Creative Australia's chief executive to resign, over the decision to ditch the Venice Biennale team.

AAP

Arts awards postponed amid Venice selection uproar

The Asia Pacific Arts Awards have been postponed, amid a row over the decision to ditch the team picked for the Venice Biennale.

AAP

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The Guardian - AU

Artists who represented Australia at Venice Biennale call for Khaled Sabsabi to be reinstated

Open letter from some of the country’s most distinguished artists ‘strongly protests’ at the removal of Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino

AAP

Minister made phone call before Venice pick reversal

The arts minister spoke to the chief of Creative Australia after questions were asked in parliament about the artist chosen to go to the Venice Biennale.

AAP

Demands for inquiry into dumping of Aust Venice art duo

How and why did Creative Australia uninvite the team it picked for the Venice Biennale? There are calls for an independent inquiry to find out.

The Conversation

‘A shameful call by Creative Australia’: the arts community reacts to Khaled Sabsabi being dropped from the Venice Biennale

To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, as has now happened to the 2026 team of Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, is without precedent.

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AAP

Aussie Venice picks 'extremely hurt' after being dumped

The artist and curator who were to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale say they are hurt and disappointed, after their selection was reversed.

AAP

Creative Australia ditches Venice Biennale artistic duo

Arts funding body Creative Australia has dumped the artist and curator it selected to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale.

Radio France Internationale

Emotional abstracts recount Zimbabwe’s struggles and strength

Zimbabwe’s dramatic landscapes and enduring struggles resonate in Gillian Rosselli’s abstract paintings, which reveal her homeland’s resilience amid drought, poverty and environmental decline. Rosselli has made her European debut this year with two major exhibitions – at the Zimbabwe pavilion in the Venice Biennale and at the “Also Known as…

France 24

The Venice Biennale: Redressing the post-colonial balance through art

In this episode of Arts24, Eve Jackson takes you to Italy for the oldest and largest cultural exhibition in the world – the Venice art Biennale. The breathtaking floating city hosts the Olympics of the art world every two years. It’s the original biennale on which others in the world…

Radio France Internationale

Who is Julien Creuzet, the Caribbean artist representing France at the Venice Biennale?

Julien Creuzet – the first French-Caribbean artist to represent France at the Venice Biennale – is showing a multi-sensory exhibition that reflects on the intercultural identities of African and Caribbean diasporas.

The Guardian - UK

Part protest, part rave: the Indigenous artists stunning the Venice Biennale

From Gold Lion winner Archie Moore to Brazilians the Tupinambá collective, First Nations artists are making their voices heard at ‘the Olympics of art’. They talk hammocks, hunting and human connection

Evening Standard

Venice Biennale pre-opening 2024: all the gossip and glamour from inside the billionaire's playground

Spritz-soaked parties, hundreds of exhibitions and big fashion sponsors counting Burberry and Charles & Keith — Joe Bromley reports on the glamour and gossip from inside the Venice Biennale pre-opening 2024

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