A video by Khaled Sabsabi titled "You" (2007) features Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah, surrounded by light, an image considered provocative by some in the context of heightened tensions around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Screenshot from the artist's website/Montage by L'Orient-Le Jour)
Excluded amidst a climate of controversy and political pressure, Lebanese-born artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino are making an unexpected return to lead the Australian pavilion for the 2026 edition of the Venice Biennale. This dramatic reversal was orchestrated by Creative Australia, the public body responsible for funding, promoting, and strategizing Australian contemporary arts, after succumbing to unprecedented cultural sector mobilization.It all started last February, just days after their official nomination was announced. A scathing article in The Australian heavily criticized Sabsabi's video installation "You," created in 2007 and featuring a manipulated excerpt from a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah following the 2006 war. The newspaper accused it of a “creative approach to racism” and...
Excluded amidst a climate of controversy and political pressure, Lebanese-born artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino are making an unexpected return to lead the Australian pavilion for the 2026 edition of the Venice Biennale. This dramatic reversal was orchestrated by Creative Australia, the public body responsible for funding, promoting, and strategizing Australian contemporary arts, after succumbing to unprecedented cultural sector mobilization.It all started last February, just days after their official nomination was announced. A scathing article in The Australian heavily criticized Sabsabi's video installation "You," created in 2007 and featuring a manipulated excerpt from a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah following the 2006 war. The newspaper accused it of a “creative approach to racism”...
