Creative Australia chair retires after Venice furore
The chair of the federal arts agency, Robert Morgan, has stood down three months after the board's controversial sacking of Australia's appointed representatives to the Venice Biennale.
Morgan's retirement from Creative Australia was announced by Arts Minister Tony Burke late Friday just weeks before an independent review is to publicly report on the process that led to the sacking of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino.
The leadership change has raised hopes in the arts sector that the sacking could be revoked in time for Australia to attend the Venice Biennale in 2026.
Morgan and Creative Australia chief executive Adrian Collette have borne the brunt of criticism over the board's decision in February to abruptly cancel the Biennale invitation of Sabsabi and Dagostino.
The move had followed questions in parliament that day about Sabsabi's historic works.
The pair told Senate estimates the decision had been taken to avoid 'the worst kind of divisive debate', and 'an unacceptable risk to public support for Australia's artistic community'.
It was the discovery of an 18-second 2006 video artwork, Thank You Very Much featuring images of the 9/11 attacks on the US that Collette told senators had prompted him to call an emergency meeting of the board the evening of February 13.
Collette said there was a possibility the agency might be unable to find a replacement in time, leaving Australia without a presence at the event.
Collette announced Morgan's departure in a note to staff.
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