Green Room: ‘Generational decline’ in youth arts, new Khaled Sabsabi work
South Australian arts and culture news in brief.
Venice Biennale artist returns to Adelaide
Khaled Sabsabi will return to Adelaide’s Samstag Museum of Art next year as part of $1.6 million in newly announced major commissions from Creative Australia.
It will be the first chance for audiences to experience new work from the Lebanese Australian artist after he represents Australia at next year’s Venice Biennale. The prestigious commission placed Sabsabi at the centre of a political storm earlier this year after he and curator Michael Dagostino’s commission was controversially taken back within days of its announcement following political and media pressure.
Sabsabi and D’Agostino were eventually reinstated by Creative Australia following a review and months of outcry from across the arts community.
Samstag has previously hosted Sabsabi’s work as part of the 2018 Adelaide Biennial Divided Worlds, curated by Samstag director Erica Green. He also presented work at the Art Gallery of South Australia as part of the 2024 biennial, Inner Sanctum.
The newly announced commissions also include a collaborative project “exploring sport, identity and cultural history” between AFL legend Adam Goodes and Australian National University academic Dr Baden Pailthorpe to be presented at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, and a new project from Naina Sen, Naveed Farro and Harrison Hall as part of the Adelaide Film Festival Expand Lab Moving Image Commission.
ACE retires $20,000 Porter Street Commission, announces new $10,000 multichannel video award
Across campus from Samstag, Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE) has just announced a new award moving image award – while shelving its previous major commission program after five years.
You might like
Artists based in South Australia are invited to apply via expression of interest to create a new, silent, multichannel moving image work that will be presented in the Mercury Cinema-facing windows of ACE’s base in the Lion Arts precinct for eight weeks from July to September 2026. Shortlisted artists will be invited to submit a detailed proposal – while receiving a development fee – before the winner is announced in December.
Like the Porter Street Commission, the ‘Multichannel Commission’ is backed by the gallery’s Porter Street Fund – itself bankrolled by the proceeds from the sale of the Parkside base of ACE’s predecessor organisation, the Contemporary Arts Centre of South Australia. According to Realestate.com, the 145.55m² property sold for $1,265,000 in June 2018.
Since 2020 the Porter Street Commission has supported five major bodies of work from Bridget Currie, Allison Chhorn, Kasper Schmidt Mumm, Lee Salomone, and Mark Valenzuela, whose exhibition Bantay-Salakay closed in September.
While the Multichannel Commission’s $10,000 prize represents half the $20,000 project funding (plus $3000 artist fee) previously granted to Porter Street Commissions, InReview understands that the Porter Street Fund will now be used to support “a broader range of commissions – including invited and open-call opportunities such as the MC”.
Expressions of interest close November 3 2025.
Youth arts orgs claim ‘generation decline’ in participation rates
South Australia’s youth arts organisations have banded together to launch a new report raising concerns that young people today are engaging with less creative arts than older generations.
The Youth Arts Collective – which includes Carclew, Slingsby, South Australian Circus Centre, Patch Theatre, Adelaide Youth Orchestras, Windmill Theatre Company, Riverland Youth Theatre, and D’Faces of Youth Arts – this week released their ‘Tomorrow Stars with Creativity’ report. The report stresses the importance of youth engagement in creative activities, citing the “world of complexity” encountered by young people today, and a “proliferation of screen culture [that] causes disconnection and harm”.
Subscribe for updates
“The nation-leading ban on social media under the age of 16 will soon come into effect,” the report’s preamble reads. “But when we take something away, we must offer something better in return. Youth arts is that return: a reconnection to imagination, expression and belonging.”
Among the report’s findings is a “generational decline in participation in Youth Arts Activities”, citing a 5% drop-off between the number of surveyed adults who recall participating in arts or creative activities before turning 17 (83%) and current rates of child engagement in the arts (78%).
The report also highlights the 886 jobs supported by the sector, and a return on investment that sees every dollar of government funding more than tripled by other revenue sources.
Mimi Crowe, Acting Commissioner for Children and Young People and CEO of Carclew, says that young people need and demand “safe spaces to belong, create, and express themselves”.
“The Youth Arts Collective has the depth, trust and reach to deliver incredible outcomes for children and young people across the state,” Crowe said in a statement. “This is just the beginning. Together, we are telling a united story, drawing on our history while shaping the future of wellbeing, work and community. Tomorrow really does start with creativity.”
Read the full report here.
Australian Dance Theatre’s $30,000 residency
Australian Dance Theatre has just opened applications for the second round of its EXPOUND residency program, which invites mid-career and established dance practitioners to pitch for $30,000 in funding and up to six weeks residency time at the company’s LOFT space at Lion Arts Centre.
This year’s EXPOUND residency went to Bharathanatyam dancer and choreographer Christopher Gurusamy, who planned to develop a new work combining Bharatanatyam, Carnatic and South Asian influences.
Applications close November 16, find out more and apply now.
Green Room is a regular column for InReview, providing quick news for people interested, or involved, in South Australian arts and culture. Get in touch by emailing us at [email protected]