“Creative Australia is for the artist
Creative Australia is for us all¹”
Diversity Arts and Arts Organisations call on the Federal Government to reaffirm its commitment to protecting freedom of thought and expression.
As the national voice for ethno-cultural racial and cultural equity in the creative sectors, Diversity Arts Australia and our colleagues write to express our concern in the strongest voice possible over ongoing attempts to silence and discredit renowned artists, academics, journalists and activists in Australia for expressing their views, particularly when there appears to be a pattern of targeting racialised people as there has been with Arab, Muslim, Lebanese and Palestinian Australians.
We are appalled by attacks on Palestinian-Australians such as multi-award-winning author and scholar, Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah*, respected Lebanese Australians such as journalist Antoinette Lattouf and award-winning, multidisciplinary artist Khaled Sabsabi, esteemed Italian-Australian curator Michael Dagostino.
Thursday night’s (13 February 2025) decision by the Board of Creative Australia to withdraw their support for Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino, as the Australian 2026 Venice Biennale team, has shocked the arts community and cultural sectors. The reasons cited make a mockery of Creative Australia’s claim to be “for the artist and for us all”. Significantly, the Board’s decision calls into question their stated commitment to put into practice the principle of “arm’s-length” independence and to uphold creative diversity and freedom of artistic expression, directly contravening its obligations under the Creative Australia Act 2023, which states that it must “uphold and promote freedom of expression in the arts”.
The Board’s stated reason – to avoid a prolonged and divided debate deemed an “unacceptable risk to public support for Australia’s artistic community” that could undermine the goal of “bringing Australians together through art and creativity” has done exactly this. This decision has impacted not only the two artists who have a longstanding commitment to creating and producing outstanding multi-disciplinary art, but has been felt deeply by the broader Arabic-speaking and Muslim communities. The Board decision feeds into the demonisation of racialised communities that has produced a pattern of behaviour that attempts to restrict and suppress racialised people and other Australians who advocate for social justice and human rights issues.
Freedom of expression in any medium—be it the arts, media, public protest, broadcasting or academia—must be protected and upheld, including the expression of ideas that others may find unpopular, shocking, offensive, or challenging. This principle is recognised in the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), which provides protections for statements and artistic works made reasonably and in good faith in the pursuit of art, education, or public interest.
We call on the Federal Government to affirm its commitment to protecting freedom of thought and expression for all Australians.
We call on Creative Australia to make an apology to the artistic team and the sector.
We call on Creative Australia to commit to the peer and industry review process and to honour their expertise by standing firmly for an independent process.
We call on Creative Australia to immediately reinstate Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino as the Australian artistic representatives for the 61st Venice Biennale and to apologise for the harm caused.
We call on Creative Australia to strengthen its processes and policies to ensure that transparency and accountability are embedded as principles of practice, and to follow them.
Finally, we call on Creative Australia to undertake an independent review of how this decision was made, in order to recover the trust of the arts and broader community.
*Dr Randa-Abdel Fattah’s Future Fellowship project, ‘Arab/Muslim Australian Social Movements since the 1970s: a hidden history’ funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), is the subject of a request by Minister of Education Jason Clare for an investigation by Macquarie University.
This statement has been endorsed by:
Marrugeku
Shifting Ground
Moogahlin Performing Arts
Arab Council Australia
Arab Theatre Studio
Australian Museums and Galleries Association
Contemporary Asian Australian Performance
Footscray Community Arts Centre
Campbelltown Arts Centre
Powerhouse Youth Theatre
Sweatshop Literacy Movement
Utp
Think+DO Tank Foundation
aesthetic alliance
Magenta House
Echo Tango
Pari
If you would like to express your support by adding your organisation’s signature, please complete the form here.