Correspondence With Minister Burke's Office From 18 February 2025 To 14 March 2025 On The Topic Of Australia's Representation At The 2026 Venice Biennale.

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Correspondence between Minister Burke's office and Creative Australia regarding Australia's 2026 Venice Biennale representation reveals that artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino were removed from the role. Creative Australia Board member Lindy Lee resigned in February 2025 following this decision, citing contradiction with her core belief in supporting artists despite her participation in the decision. Lee's resignation letter to Minister Burke expressed "deep sense of loss" over "silencing an artist of Khaled's stature." Supporting background documents on the Venice Biennale 2026 artistic team were prepared by departmental staff on 21 February 2025. The reasons for removing Sabsabi and Dagostino from representing Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale are not detailed in the released excerpt.