After a turbulent year, Australian Khaled Sabsbi presents two works at the Venice Biennale Venice Biennale

Australia’s show at the Venice Biennale in May will be a “nurturing experience” designed to bring people together – following one of the most turbulent and divisive periods in the country’s 72-year history, at the prestigious international art festival.

Artist Khaled Sabsbi and curator Michael D’Agostino, who were controversially excluded and then reinstated as Australia’s representatives, will present two major works at the Venice Biennale in May – both informed by Sabsbi’s practice as a Sufi Muslim and exploring “spirituality, migration and the breadth of shared humanity”.

At the Australia Pavilion — the country’s official national website — the team of artists and curators will present a work titled “Self Conference,” which Sabsabe describes as “a multi-sensory invitation to all people, regardless of creed, race, ethnicity or religion” to “come together to reflect on our collective humanity.”

The duo will also present a crowdfunded version of their original proposal for the Venice Biennale – but within the biennale’s main exhibition, curated by its late artistic director Koyo Koh. Koh, who died in May, invited Sabsabi and D’Agostino to be part of her exhibition after Creative Australia canceled their appointment.

This is the first time an Australian artist has presented their work simultaneously in the Australia Pavilion and in the main exhibition. Australia’s newest actor Archie Moore has won the prestigious Golden Lion at the 2024 Venice Biennale for his installations and relatives.

While details of both works remain under wraps for now, the artist said they are closely related, and are inspired by the 12th-century allegorical Sufi poem, The Conference of the Birds, about the quest for spiritual enlightenment.

Over the past fifteen years or so, Al-Sabasbi’s works have been heavily influenced by Sufism or Sufism, a mystical and pluralistic Islamic current that emphasizes a personal connection with the divine.

Together, the two works also reflect Sufism’s fundamental concept of an interconnected inner and outer self. “[They’re] Looking at internal and external thoughts, and apparent and PatinThe visible and the invisible; What we can touch [and] “What we can imagine,” Sbsby said.

The artist said the pavilion’s work will contain audio and visual components, including “moments that rely on light to shimmer, bounce and refract within the space to reveal other components of the work.”

Creative Australia CEO Adrian Collett, who was heavily criticized for the initial decision to cancel the duo’s appointment, said the organization was “proud” to be presenting Sabsabe at the biennial.

“Sabsabi’s work provides a critical and timely opportunity to showcase an optimistic vision of Australian identity on the world stage,” he wrote in an official statement accompanying the announcement on Wednesday evening.

The first details of a Venice Biennale show in Australia were revealed just over a year after Creative Australia revoked the original commission, following criticism of Sabsabi’s appointment in The Australian newspaper and debate in the Senate over two of his previous artworks, which Liberal Senator Clare Chandler claimed promoted terrorism and anti-Semitism.

Sabsabi’s dismissal, which Creative Australia described as an attempt to avoid “divisive controversy”, led to resignations within the organization and sparked a backlash from the arts community.

Sabsby told The Guardian at the time that the experience had taken a toll on his physical and emotional health, and that it had “dismantled” his career.

In July, Creative Australia reinstated Sabsabe and D’Agostino’s work, after an independent review identified “errors” in its decision. At the time, Creative Australia president Wesley Enoch apologized to the artist and curator for the “hurt and anguish” caused by the issue, admitting that Sabsabi’s work had been “wrongly portrayed”.

Asked if their dismissal had changed their plans for the biennale, D’Agostino said it had not: “The original intention has not changed. The work has grown, as it has grown.” [all] The business is growing, but it hasn’t changed much. “It developed in a very natural way.”

Al-Sebsabi moved from Tripoli to western Sydney when he was 12, and his traumatic experience with the civil war in Lebanon and his experience as an immigrant and Muslim have informed his 35-year artistic practice, producing multimedia works that reflect the devastation of war, challenge stereotypes and provide windows into the experiences of Muslims living in Australia.

While Sabsabe’s works for the Venice Biennale are influenced by his own spiritual practices, he says they are “about respecting and acknowledging all religions, and finding commonalities.”

“It is an invitation to all people, regardless of creed, race or religion, to come and enjoy these moments of contemplation,” he said. “And I hope they leave with some curiosity.”