Khaled Sabsabi: Thank You Very Much (2006) and You (2007)
Let us start with the work, as they always tell us to do in art history. Well, there are apparently two of them that got Khaled Sabsabi cancelled as Australia’s representative to the 2026 Venice Biennale: You (2007), the one Creative Australia were aware of, and Thank You Very Much (2006), the one they apparently were not. Let us start with You, which is often described as an “image,” although it’s actually a ten-minute video. It depicts Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah giving a speech to a crowd with the sound gradually getting out of synch, and as we watch the projector’s light appears to burn a hole in the frame, eventually dissolving the image.
Exclusive to the Magazine
Khaled Sabsabi: Thank You Very Much (2006) and You (2007) by Rex Butler and Paris Lettau is featured in full in Issue 3 of Memo magazine.
Get your hands on the print edition through our online shop or save up to 20% and get free domestic shipping with a subscription.
Related
As the art world fixates on the global present, a new wave of Australian and Chilean artists, critics, and historians are turning backward—embracing archives, provincialism, and forgotten genealogies. Is resisting contemporaneity the most contemporary move of all?
The APY Art Centre Collective scandal, ignited by Murdoch’s The Australian, exposed more than allegations of interference—it revealed power struggles in the Aboriginal art industry and became a flashpoint for culture wars. As institutions, dealers, and politicians jockeyed for position, the artists were caught in a battle over authenticity, control, and the future of Aboriginal contemporary art.
Artist David L. Johnson condenses centuries of enclosure into “Diggers,” repurposing hostile urban fixtures as provocations against privatisation, surveillance, and racial capitalism.
