A&D’s Khaled Sabsabi joins Artspace board

One of Sydney’s most significant contemporary art institutions, Artspace, has been dedicated to the development of new ideas and creative practices for more than 30 years. This week Artspace announced the appointment of three new members of its board including UNSW Art & Design graduate Khaled Sabsabi, Lisa Chung, and Peter O’Connell.

Khaled Sabsabi joins artists Daniel Boyd, and fellow UNSW Art & Design graduate, Mikala Dwyer, in fulfilling a Board-mandated decision in 2016 to increase minimum artist representation on the Artspace Board from two to three out of a total directorate of twelve, affirming artists as central to Artspace’s mission.

Artspace Board Chair Andrew Cameron AM said, “We are delighted to welcome these exceptional individuals to the Board, who bring to Artspace a breadth of experience working across the arts sector, from production and presentation, to consultancy, strategy, and advocacy. Their outstanding achievements, both locally and internationally, are testament to their agency and agility across multiple areas of expertise, and we look forward to working with them to help steward Artspace in the coming years.”

Artspace Executive Director and UNSW Art & Design graduate, Alexie Glass-Kantor said, “The decision to increase artist representation to 25% of our Board confirms Artspace’s commitment to ensuring artists have a strong leadership role in shaping the organisation. We are honoured to have the support of such a diverse range of individuals whose deep knowledge and collaborative energy will sustain Artspace into the future.” 

Khaled Sabsabi migrated with his family to Australia in 1978 following the outbreak of civil war in Lebanon. They settled in Sydney, where Sabsabi now lives and works. Since the late 1980s Sabsabi has worked with communities, particularly western Sydney communities, to create and develop arts programs and projects that explore the complexities of place, displacement, identity and ideological differences associated with migrant experiences and marginalisation.

Sabsabi began his creative life as a hip-hop performer but more recently has produced sound art, immersive installations, and theatre pieces. As a video artist, he continues to work across borders of discipline, nationality and culture to create artworks that challenge the passive consumption of media spectacle. Sabsabi has exhibited nationally and internationally in exhibitions including; Subject to Ruin, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney (2014); Where We Are Now, 5th Marrakech Biennale, Morocco (2014); The Australian Platform, Art Stage, Singapore (2014); Sharjah Biennial 11, Sharjah, UAE (2013); Edge of Elsewhere, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW and Gallery 4A, Sydney (2012); Making It New: Focus on Contemporary Australian Art, MCA, Sydney (2009); Out of Place, Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin (2009); Soft Power: Asian Attitudes, Shanghai Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai (2007); ASIA – EUROPE Mediations, National Gallery, Poznan, Poland (2007); The Resilient Landscape, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney (2007); Interdigitate, The Moving Image Centre, Auckland (2006); and Living Here Now – Art and Politics, Australian Perspecta (1999).

Sabsabi’s work is held in a number of public and private collections including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney; Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW; and Italy Casoria International Contemporary Art Museum, Casoria.