When questions were raised in Federal Parliament about two artworks by Khaled Sabsabi from 2006 and 2007, it was enough to convince Creative Australia to dump the artist from next year's Venice Biennale. 

The board hoped to avoid a "prolonged and divisive" public debate, but the unparalleled move to rescind the invitation to Sabsabi to represent Australia risks creating has had the opposite effect: compromising artistic freedom and the appearnance of arms-length independence of the arts funding agency.

Art historian Rex Butler and barrister Paris Lettau, contributing editors of the art magazine Memo, lend an art historical perspective to the debate.