Exhibiting in Venice in both the Australia Pavilion and the main exhibition is a rare distinction, and one I have embraced with determination and excitement.
After Creative Australia rescinded our appointment as the Creative Team for the 2026 Australia Pavilion at the La Biennale di Venezia, we assembled a team committed to supporting Michael and me in realising our vision. Energised by your encouragement and supported both actively and financially by the arts community, we were able to travel to Bangkok to produce the work with the determination that it would ultimately be shown in Venice.
While in Bangkok, I was invited by the late 𝗞𝗼𝘆𝗼 𝗞𝗼𝘂𝗼𝗵 to present this work in 𝙄𝙣 𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙆𝙚𝙮𝙨 and officially notified on my return to Sydney. A month later, Michael and I were recommissioned as the 2026 Australia Pavilion Creative Team.
We look forward to being able to share more information on the work being presented for In Minor Keys following the Biennale’s opening.
#biennalearte2026 #InMinorKeys #KhaledSabsabi
‘conference of one’s self’ invites visitors to choose their own path through the threshold, embodying the Tasawwuf idea that the inner and outer, the seen and unseen, are always in fluid relationship.
The thresholds draw from a ceremonial textile tradition called a Sanjak considered spiritual entities and shaped by ritual use and communal significance. These have been produced in collaboration with two practitioners from the Multicultural Women’s Hub an initiative founded at Arts & Cultural Exchange, Parramatta @aceparramatta echoing the artist’s ongoing collaboration and work with Western Sydney communities.
Image: Khaled Sabsabi, ‘conference of one’s self’, 2026, Australia Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia. Photo: Andrea Rossetti. Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery
#BiennaleArte2026
#conferenceofoneself
#InMinorKeys
#ausatvenice
Read the full cover story by Will Higgenbotham in the New York Times @nytimes
🔗Link in bio
#BiennaleArte2026
#conferenceofoneself
#InMinorKeys
#ausatvenice
Today ‘conference of one’s self’ and ‘khalil’ have officially opened.
There are not many words to share beyond our deep gratitude to have reached this moment due to the sheer collective effort and advocacy of so many. We are humbled and feel the love of every person who fought for our participation.
To have the opportunity to exhibit these two works at the Venice Biennale is because of the advocacy and care of those who donated directly to each work, wrote letters in support of our participation, and discussed and shared my practice widely.
We firmly believe that the power of art lies in its potential to create conversations and platforms, even when those conversations are difficult. In this way, the journey we have undertaken to reach this point has resolved the initial intent we had in deciding to propose a work for the Venice Biennale.
The first words we put together when we were appointed as the artistic team to exhibit in the Australia Pavilion acknowledged our trust and love as migrants and children of migrants in the culturally diverse voices of Western Sydney and Australia more broadly, and the lessons they may offer in negotiations of global futures.
‘conference of one’s self’ and ‘khalil’ are underpinned by this proposition: that our shared humanity is informed by the futurity generated when migrant experiences, journeys, and encounters are acknowledged and respected.
We invite everyone to listen, breathe and reflect upon the steady, enveloping pulse of life that you will experience in an encounter with ‘conference of one’s self’ within the Australia Pavilion and ‘khalil’ as part of ‘In Minor Keys’ under the curatorial vision of the late Koyo Kouoh.
Lastly, we extend a heartfelt thank you to our families, to Simon Mordant AO, Josh Milani, Mikala Tai and the Studio Khaled team and to the Venice Project team of Creative Australia, who held us and the ambition of these works steady throughout this entire journey.
With gratitude, love and respect,
Khaled and Michael
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Image credit:
1. Khaled Sabsabi, ‘conference of one’s self’, 2026, Australia Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia. Photo: Andrea Rossetti. Courtesy the artist and Milani Gallery
Join the 2026 Australia Pavilion Artistic Team, artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino, in Venice for a special program on Friday 8 May at the Fondazione Querini Stampalia ✨
The Gathering brings together a curatorial introduction, an in-conversation with the artist featuring curator and writer Kathryn Weir, and a presentation by art historian Claire Dillon connecting themes of spirituality and Islamic visual culture.
The Gathering
📍 Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice
📅 Friday 8 May 2026
🕔 10–11.30am (CEST)
🔗Register via Eventbrite: link in bio
This program supports Khaled Sabsabi’s presentation at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
The Gathering is presented by Commissioner Creative Australia in collaboration with Education Partner UNSW Sydney.
@peacefender@ausatvenice@labiennale@creative.australia@unswada@unswgalleries@clairepdillon@milanigallery
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Image: Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino in conversation at the Gathering, Parramatta Town Hall. Photo: Garry Trinh
Big smiles as we have landed in Venice 💛
We visited both sites where my work will be presented, within the Main Exhibition and the Australia Pavilion. Install is very much underway already!
It’s wonderful to be here, and to commence this next period with Curator Michael Dagostino and Project Producer @mikalatai who I am incredibly grateful to.
Looking forward to sharing these works with you all in May and I hope to provide updates over these next weeks as we progress with installing each work.
My heart and prayers go out to the Jewish communities during this horrific and difficult time.
Violence against people and racism have no justification or place in our society. It is against our shared values and must be completely rejected.
I extend my deep compassion and sincere support to all who are grieving.
Today, we were officially informed by Creative Australia that we have been recommissioned as the Artistic Team for the Australia Pavilion at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
We accept this invitation and welcome the opportunity to represent our country on this prestigious international stage.
This decision has renewed our confidence in Creative Australia and in the integrity of its selection process. It offers a sense of resolution and allows us to move forward with optimism and hope after a period of significant personal and collective hardship.
We acknowledge that this challenging journey has impacted not only us, but also our families, friends, the staff at Creative Australia, and many others across the broader artistic community here and abroad.
We would not have reached this point without the unwavering support of the Australian and international creative community. Their solidarity, belief, and encouragement sustained us throughout this difficult time, making it possible for us to continue our work and remain in a position to accept this recommission. We are deeply grateful for the generosity, commitment and advocacy of our families, peers, core project team, sector and financial supporters – this outcome would not have been possible without them.
In the coming weeks, we will recommit ourselves fully to this project. Through the process of creating and sharing new work, we hope to begin a path of healing and renewal. So, please forgive us if we don’t immediately respond, as we are returning to our roles as artist and curator.
We extend our deepest and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has stood by us and look forward to sharing our work with you.
Onwards,
Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino
Deepest thank you to everyone who supported the first stage of our fundraiser. Your backing helped us complete the first phase of the work in Thailand with an incredible team. We’re now back on track to deliver the project for Venice 2026.
The second stage of our fundraiser is now live. In July, I’ll be working with community members in Western Sydney and beyond to create the next phase of the work. This part is personal, it’s about grounding the project in place, memory, and collective experience.
To those across the sector who’ve supported us, through protest and public calls for artistic freedom, thank you. You’re collaborators in this work.
Michael and I are still seeking reinstatement. The work continues, and so does the need for the arts sector to be healed and heard.
- Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino
Khaled Sabsabi
UnVanished, 2020
Milani Gallery are offering an important work of mine from 2020 to help raise funds for the Venice Biennale project in 2026.
Each work has been hand-painted as a gesture of love and remembrance towards a family member who perished in war, in line with my anti-war stance and plea for existence and coexistence.
"This is the last picture our family has of my cousin. His memory remains UnVanished." - Khaled Sabsabi
Details to purchase an edition can be found in the link in bio.
1 individually hand-painted photograph
15.2 x 10.2 cm
Acrylic paint on dye diffusion thermal transfer prints, series of 92.
@milanigallery
I spoke with Nour Haydar for @guardian The Full Story podcast.
Amongst what was raised, we had a conversation about my approach to art making and what motivates my artistic practice. For me, art is about critically analysing the moment we live in.
Thank you @nourhaydar
Link in bio to listen to the conversation.
I spoke with Daniel Browning for The Art Show on ABC Radio National.
@abc_arts
Towards the end of the conversation, Daniel acknowledged that I was breaking my silence - that this was the first moment people have heard me speak. I referred to my reflective nature and being a seeker of Islamic Tasawwuf philosophies - to break down the outer ego self and engage with the inner condition of the heart, and what it means for broader humanity and a connection with the eternal.
I have spoken, and I am now focusing on the work.
The last quote refers to this.
Thank you @balugahn
Photo by Teresa Tan - ABC Arts
