A special program supporting Khaled Sabsabi’s presentation at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, where he presents two interconnected works: conference of one’s self at the Australia Pavilion, and khalil within the exhibition ‘In Minor Keys’, conceived by the late curator Koyo Kouoh.
As part of this project, the Artistic Team have brought people together through a series of gatherings centred on listening, sharing, and collaboration. These moments foster dialogue, build connections, and create opportunities for collective reflection.
The first gathering at Parramatta Town Hall brought the Artistic Team together in conversation to share ideas of spirituality and art. The program also hosted an address by leading international curator Alia Swastika, Director of the Biennale Jogja Foundation and a member of the 2024 Venice Biennale Golden Lion Jury. The evening also featured live musical performances from the Sydney-based Sufi group, the Three Rivers Ensemble.
PROGRAM
5.30pm Introduction
José Da Silva, Director, UNSW Galleries
5.35pm Welcome to Country
Linda Sainsbury and Heidi Duncan, Baramadagal Family Network
5.45pm Keynote: Solidarity as Reparative Practice
Alia Swastika, Director, Jogja Biennale Foundation
6.15pm Musical Performance
Three Rivers Ensemble
6.30pm In-Conversation
Khaled Sabsabi with Michael Dagostino
7.10pm Closing Remarks
Franchesca Cubillo, Executive Director of First Nations Arts & Culture, Creative Australia
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Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia in collaboration with Education Partner UNSW Sydney.
About the Partnership
UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA) has been appointed as the exclusive Education Partner for Australia’s participation in the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The appointment marks a significant new partnership between UNSW Sydney and Creative Australia, the Australian Government’s peak arts funding body and the commissioning organisation for Australia’s representation at the Venice Biennale 2026. As Education Partner, UNSW ADA, led by UNSW Galleries, is delivering a comprehensive suite of public programs in Sydney and Venice, developing education resources and the Pavilion’s official catalogue, and creating professional learning opportunities for UNSW students and staff.
BIOGRAPHIES
Khaled Sabsabi is an acclaimed, award-winning Australian multidisciplinary artist. For over 35 years, Sabsabi has worked across media and borders, collaborating with communities locally and internationally. Sabsabi’s work centres on social justice and lived experience, informed by his 1976 migration from Lebanon to Australia to escape the civil war. Sabsabi has received more than 15 international awards and has produced more than 65 major mixed-media and installation-based works to date, exhibiting in over 90 solo and group exhibitions in Australia and internationally. Sabsabi is represented by Milani Gallery, Brisbane.
Michael Dagostino is the Director of the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney. As a relatively new museum, it unites the university’s diverse collections into a multidisciplinary institution dedicated to education and community engagement. Dagostino was the founding Director of Parramatta Artists Studios in 2006, establishing a key platform for emerging artists and from 2011-23, the Director of Campbelltown Arts Centre, where he delivered an artist-driven program supporting local, national, and international collaborations.
Alia Swastika is an Indonesian curator, researcher and writer, and Director of the Jogja Biennale Foundation in Yogyakarta. For over a decade, Swastika has worked across local and international contexts, collaborating with artists and communities. Her practice centres on decolonial and feminist perspectives, focusing on decentralising art and rewriting art histories, informed by her research into Indonesian women artists during the New Order. Swastika has held key roles including co-curator of Biennale Jogja XI Equator #1 (2011) and co-artistic director of the 9th Gwangju Biennale (2012), and has contributed to numerous exhibitions, publications, and international biennales. Swastika continues to develop collaborative, action-based curatorial approaches through her work.
Three Rivers Ensemble is a Sydney-based musical group known for their distinctive blend of traditional and contemporary Islamic spiritual music. Formed by musicians of diverse cultural backgrounds, the ensemble works across performance and community contexts, drawing on shared practices of devotion and sound. Their music centres on spirituality and collective experience, reflecting a commitment to the transformative and uplighting power of music. Founded in 2022 through Hira Music School, their work fosters connections between Eastern and Western musical traditions.
In-Conversation
Artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino discuss their project, conference of one’s self and how contemporary art engages with experiences of spirituality and shared humanity.
Sabsabi reflects on his childhood during the Lebanese Civil War and migration to Western Sydney, situating his practice around memory, displacement, and social justice. He explains how early experiences in his parents’ video store shaped his understanding of sound, image, and community—and how his return to Lebanon in 2002 was pivotal, reconnecting him with his taṣawwuf (Sufi) lineage and spiritual teachings.
conference of one’s self draws on the twelfth-century poem The Conference of the Birds by Farīd-al-dīn Aṭṭār, an important text in taṣawwuf thought. Sabsabi outlines the poem’s seven valleys; quest, love, knowledge, detachment, unity, wonderment, and annihilation, introducing his own eighth level: wholeness and completeness.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney as part of the public program ‘The Gathering’. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
This conversation was recorded on the unceded lands of the Dharug peoples at Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney, on 8 March 2026.
Three Rivers Ensemble, 'The Gathering with Khaled Sabsabi', 8 March 2026, Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
Photograph: Garry Trinh
Speaker, José Da Silva and Auslan Interpreter, Ferran Thornycroft, 'The Gathering with Khaled Sabsabi', 8 March 2026, Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
Photograph: Garry Trinh
Speaker, Linda Sainsbury with Heidi Duncan, Baramadagal Family Network and Auslan Interpreter, Ferran Thornycroft, 'The Gathering with Khaled Sabsabi', 8 March 2026, Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
Photograph: Garry Trinh
Keynote Speaker, Alia Swastika and Auslan Interpreter, Melissa Smith, 'The Gathering with Khaled Sabsabi', 8 March 2026, Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
Photograph: Garry Trinh
Curator, Michael Dagostino and Artist, Khaled Sabsabi, 'The Gathering with Khaled Sabsabi', 8 March 2026, Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
Photograph: Garry Trinh
Curator, Michael Dagostino and Artist, Khaled Sabsabi, 'The Gathering with Khaled Sabsabi', 8 March 2026, Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
Photograph: Garry Trinh
'The Gathering with Khaled Sabsabi', 8 March 2026, Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
Photograph: Garry Trinh
Speaker, Franchesca Cubillo and Auslan Interpreter, Ferran Thornycroft, 'The Gathering with Khaled Sabsabi', 8 March 2026, Parramatta Town Hall, Western Sydney.
Presented by Commissioner Creative Australia and Education Partner UNSW Sydney. Produced in partnership with Art Review.
Photograph: Garry Trinh