The federal funding body's chief executive Adrian Collette, and board chair Robert Morgan, appeared at a fiery Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday night, that was watched online by more than 1000 people.
Creative Australia's commission for Lebanon-born artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino to represent Australia at the Biennale had been formally rescinded hours earlier, at 4.30pm on Tuesday, the hearing was told.
But Sabsabi and Dagostino have known for almost a fortnight that they are no longer heading to Venice.
The about-face has caused uproar in the arts sector, with more than 4000 people, including some of Australia's most respected artists, calling for the pair to be reinstated.
The Creative Australia board decided to revoke their invitation following questions in parliament on February 13 regarding two of Sabsabi's early artworks, which featured the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, and the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Over hours of combative questioning in Senate estimates, some of the circumstances surrounding that decision have emerged - with evidence there were no dissenting voices during an urgent 90-minute board meeting on the evening of February 13.
Mr Collette said he relayed to the board that Arts Minister Tony Burke had been shocked by the 9/11 artwork, while chair Robert Morgan said the risks of inaction were clear to everyone at the meeting.
"We considered this video would become prominent, divisive and would escalate in an urgent way," Mr Morgan explained.
The board did not specifically consider legal risk, the estimates hearing was told, while Mr Collette said he did not have time to talk to a lawyer before informing the artist his selection had been overturned.
"No one advised me to get legal advice, we were dealing with the termination of a contract, it's a normal thing to do," Mr Collette said, revealing he had consulted lawyers two or three days ago.
It's also become clear that the leadership of Creative Australia had little knowledge of Sabsabi's previous work before he was selected for Venice.
Liberal Senator Claire Chandler, whose foray in question time sparked the controversy a fortnight ago, asked about Creative Australia's due diligence, and was told it did not search artists' back catalogues when considering future commissions.
Mr Burke, who was not present at the Senate hearing, had been given a brief regarding the Venice commission prior to its announcement, but it did not include mention of either of the controversial artworks.
Mr Collette admitted Creative Australia was facing a huge job to restore confidence in its decisions, and said he felt the concern of the arts community strongly.
A promised review of the selection process would be critical in rebuilding confidence and should take a few weeks, he said.
Mr Collette repeatedly denied that racism was a factor in the revocation, when asked by Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi.
And when fellow Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked if he had considered resigning over the furore, Mr Collette said that was certainly not something he would do.
As for Australia's showing at Venice in 2026, it's likely the national pavilion will stand empty given the widespread anger in the artistic community.
Mr Collette said he had not spoken to any artists about replacing Sabsabi and Dagostino, but Creative Australia would do everything it could to mount a worthy exhibition.
"We have to draw breath and work out how we are going to approach this singular situation," he said.
