Long road to Venice: Australia's entry finally on show

It's been a long road to the Venice Biennale for Australia's representatives at the world's most prestigious art event.

Khaled Sabsabi's artwork titled conference of one's self has finally gone on show at the Australia pavilion, with a companion piece, khalil, on prominent display in the main exhibition.

Inspired by Sufi mystic poetry, conference of one's self encourages viewers to pause, listen, and reflect, said the artist.

"The installations invite audiences to move through a shared space of reflection, where collective emotions and experiences may meet and transformation becomes possible," he said.

Eight paintings on canvas measuring three by two metres have been arranged in an octagonal formation with video projectors lighting their surfaces with moving images in a 54-minute loop.

It's accompanied by a soundscape of everyday noises recorded on an old-fashioned analogue tape.

Sabsabi has now become the first artist to show in both the Australia pavilion and the Biennale Arte main show at the same time.

It's being hailed as a win, but for a long time it seemed the artist and his curator Michael Dagostino would never represent the nation in Venice.

The artistic team was chosen in February 2025 then dumped by Creative Australia days later, after a conservative senator raised questions in parliament about Sabsabi's early artworks.

The decision was made on the grounds Sabsabi and Dagostino's selection would cause a "prolonged and divisive debate", Creative Australia chief Adrian Collette said at the time.

The move caused a furore in the art world, with resignations, protests, boycotts and an inquiry - and six months later the duo was reinstated.

It's not the only controversy around the 61st La Biennale di Venezia, with the main exhibition jury resigning a week after stating they would not hand out awards to Russian or Israeli artists.

Pro-Palestinian protests have also been staged outside the main exhibition venue.

It seems like an age ago that Australia won the prestigious Golden Lion - the equivalent of a gold medal - for its official showing at the last event in 2024.

The Australia Pavilion officially opens Saturday and runs until November 22.