Palestine protest gear in art a security risk, says NGA

Palestine protest material in an exhibition at The National Gallery of Australia has been covered up due to security risks, the gallery says, amid criticism from a peak Muslim body.

The Federation of Islamic Councils has demanded the restoration of the artworks in their original form and said it strongly condemned the NGA in a statement issued Friday.

The items at the centre of the controversy were on display as part of an exhibition titled SaV?ge K'lub Te Paepae Aora'i ? Where The Gods Cannot Be Fooled, which has been running since June and is due to close in March.

Items covered with white peace flags include a free Palestine T-shirt that is part of a wall hanging, as well as a free Palestine fist patch and a protest pin, the gallery said.

These had been on public display for 10 days before a decision was made in consultation with artists to cover the material due to security risks, it said.

"Consideration was given to past protest activity and vandalism at the National Gallery, the volatility of the environment and reported violence, vandalism and threats in Canberra, and across Australia at the time," the gallery said in a statement.

"We acknowledge the SaV?ge K'lub artists were placed in a difficult position and we are grateful for their willingness to collaborate with us in a challenging and uncertain environment."

The Federation of Islamic Councils described covering Palestine flags as an act of disgraceful censorship."This is not just an attack on an artwork. It is an attack on Palestinian identity itself," the peak body said in a statement.

"The deliberate erasure of the Palestinian flag is a direct endorsement of the ongoing Zionist campaign to suppress, dehumanise, and erase the Palestinian people from history."

The National Gallery has clarified that the exhibition includes several Palestine flags which are currently on display, as well as Taiwan flags, and the items covered up are protest material.

The institution has previously been targeted by protesters, including the vandalism of Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup artworks in 2022.

The Guardian newspaper revealed on Thursday that the artworks had been covered, and that the founder of the SaV?ge K'lub, Rosanna Raymond, had told the NGA it was an act of censorship.

"We were put in a particularly contentious position, because it's a big ask to censor the work that we believe in so strongly," Raymond told the newspaper.

The revelations have come amid uproar in the arts world about the ditching of Australia's artistic team selected for the Venice Biennale 2026.

Artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino had been selected by federal funding body Creative Australia earlier in February.

But this decision was quickly overturned after questions were asked about Sabsabi's early artworks, which featured the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and Hezbollah.

The controversy has led to resignations at Creative Australia and sparked a broader debate about freedom of artistic expression.

Raymond has been contacted for comment.