Two Palestinian flags on a tapestry on display at the National Gallery of Australia have been concealed with white fabric, in what the artists have described as an act of censorship they only agreed to reluctantly.
The large tapestry is part of the Te Paepae Aora’i – Where the Gods Cannot be Fooled exhibition, a group show by Pacific Indigenous art collective SaVĀge K’lub. The work features a number of flags, including the Aboriginal flag and the words “justice now”, the Torres Strait Islander flag, the West Papua flag, along with other Moana and Pacific peoples’ symbols, insignia and social justice slogans.
The exhibition’s curator and founder of the SaVĀge K’lub, Rosanna Raymond, who is based in New Zealand, told Guardian Australia “we were censored over that work” by the NGA.
The revelations about the exhibition comes amid outcry over the dumping of artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino by Creative Australia from the 2026 Venice Biennale, and wider concerns about artistic freedom and censorship.
Raymond said the SaVĀge K’lub was “very surprised and concerned” when they were told in the days before the exhibition launched in June last year that there was a “high level” security risk with displaying the Palestinian flags on the tapestry and were given two options to proceed – to remove the work from the show or cover the flags – although she did not know who ordered the directive.
“Our options were to remove the work, or we found a solution that could keep the work there,” she said.
“It literally happened a couple of days before it actually officially opened. We felt a little bit hijacked because they had seen the work.”
Raymond said the group “didn’t just bend over” and questioned the gallery about why other flags were allowed to be on display and the Palestinian flag was not.
“We pointed out if you’re covering the Palestinian flag, then what about the Aboriginal flag or the West Papua flag. The West Papua flag is illegal in West Papua, people are jailed for owning or flying one but that they don’t worry about them,” she said.
She said SaVĀge K’lub “pushed back” but also listened to the gallery’s concerns and ultimately agreed to a compromise and covered the targeted material, which also included a T-shirt made in the Palestinian flag colours of red, green, black and white, a badge and fist pin.
“We were put in a particularly contentious position, because it’s a big ask to censor the work that we believe in so strongly,” she said.
“As Indigenous people we are very acutely aware of the damage of colonialism and neocolonialism, and what it looks like, but we haven’t had to experience it in such a way in the 21st century as our brothers and sisters in Palestine, in West Papua and in the Congo.”
Referencing the Samoan concept known as vā – which places emphasis on honouring relationships formed during art making – Raymond said the group “didn’t want to sully the relationship” that they’d been building with the pre-eminent art institution.
“We take our relationships incredibly seriously. The relationships come first, the art on the wall is a byproduct of the relationships,” she said.
However she added that the group were “absolutely horrified” and that she said to them “this is censorship”.
Guardian Australia first approached the NGA for comment on Monday.
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In a response on Thursday, the gallery did not answer specific questions about the incident but sent a general statement noting that more than 200,000 people have engaged with the exhibition, which they said has “had an overwhelmingly positive response”.
The concealed wall hanging was brought to the Guardian’s attention by a concerned member of the public, however Raymond had alluded to it in an article for Art Monthly Australasia magazine last year.
“The team did ask us (nicely) to censor some of the symbols of protest contained in the artwork,” she wrote at the time.
“For us, including references to the Palestinian flag and content related to a ceasefire isn’t just reasonable, it is a reflection of our interconnected world and a call to action for a more just and peaceful future.”
On the NGA website the SaVĀge K’lub exhibition is described as a “multi-disciplinary vehicle built to explore ideas of hospitality and sovereignty celebrating all forms of art and culture”.
The gallery is Australia’s top visual arts institution and is funded by the Australian government while also reliant on private and corporate sponsors.
Reflecting on Sabsabi’s treatment, Raymond said she was glad a visitor noticed their work at the NGA had been concealed and has now brought it to public attention.
“I was pleased that somebody in the public had recognised that there had been censorship at hand, and I am also pleased that it is actually coming to the light inside a bigger conversation that involves another artist, and that people need to realise that museums aren’t neutral,” she said.
“It’s completely shameful that our loss of free speech is being enacted in these spaces.”
Officials from the National Gallery of Australia and Creative Australia are due to front Senate estimates next week.
