By Jack Gramenz and Liz Hobday

An axed duo have been reinstated as Australia’s representatives at a major international exhibition after the nation’s arts funding body backflipped on its controversial decision.

In a statement on Wednesday, artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino said they had accepted an invitation to once again represent the nation at the 2026 Venice Biennale after being uninvited in February.

“This decision has renewed our confidence in Creative Australia and in the integrity of its selection process,” they said.

“It offers a sense of resolution and allows us to move forward with optimism and hope after a period of significant personal and collective hardship.”

The pair’s invitation was rescinded when some of Sabsabi’s early work, which referenced terrorism, was raised in federal parliament.

The arts funding and advisory body, Creative Australia, cancelled their invitation on the grounds their selection would cause a prolonged and divisive debate and that it posed an unacceptable risk to public support for Australia’s artistic community.

More than 4000 people, including some of Australia’s most respected artists, called for Sabsabi and Dagostino to be reinstated.

The pair again accepted the invitation to represent the nation following an external review of Creative Australia’s earlier decision.

Missteps, assumptions and missed opportunities – although no single predominant failure – were identified in the review.

“It was a complex series of events that created a unique set of circumstances which the board had to address,” Creative Australia acting chair Wesley Enoch said in a statement.

Arts Minister Tony Burke said he still had confidence in the Creative Australia board and politicians should not be in charge of the agency’s decisions.

“These are arms-length decisions,” he told ABC TV.

“When they made the decision to appoint, I said I supported it, when they made the decision to terminate, I said I’d support that.”

But Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the board needed a “clean out” after causing an international embarrassment for Australia.

“People need to be held to account for this,” she said.