On May 23, Creative Australia announced that board chair Robert Morgan has resigned in the wake of controversy after dropping Lebanese American artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino from Australia’s 2026 Venice Biennale team. Deputy chair Wesley Enoch will serve as interim chair.

In mid-February, the board sparked widespread backlash for revoking the appointment. The decision came after The Australian newspaper criticized Sabsabi’s early work depicting a Hezbollah leader. More than 600 artists and academics have condemned the move as censorship. Several senior Australian art professionals have since resigned in protest, including acclaimed artist Lindy Lee, who left the Creative Australia board, and philanthropist Simon Mordant, who stepped down as biennale ambassador and withdrew his financial support for the national pavilion. As a replacement is yet to be named, Adrian Collette, chief executive of Creative Australia, has acknowledged that Australia might miss the 2026 Venice Biennale.

In a statement, Josh Milani, gallerist and Sabsabi’s representative, said Morgan’s departure was “a welcome opportunity to open a pathway towards reinstatement,” and that it “would rebuild Creative Australia’s relationship with the sector to regain the trust of the artists it serves.” Meanwhile, on May 29, Monash University Museum of Art in Melbourne opened a group exhibition featuring Sabsabi’s work. The exhibition was previously postponed for “community consultations” following the Venice Biennale controversy. 

Creative Australia maintains that Morgan’s stepping down is unrelated to the controversy. In an email to The Art Newspaper, the outgoing chair reflected on his four-year tenure, calling it “a great honor” to oversee the organization’s transition from the Australia Council. 

Joyce Jingyi Ge is an editorial intern at ArtAsiaPacific.