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A week before it takes to the skies of the capital for the first time, the newest member of the Skywhale family has been revealed. Images from Nine Newspapers of a December test flight at Gundaroo show Skywhalepapa alongside the Canberra cult figure Skywhale. The National Gallery commissioned the second father figure of the family after buying the original Skywhale, which was originally commissioned by the ACT to celebrate Canberra’s centenary in 2013. Skywhalepapa will be officially launched in Canberra next weekend at a ticketed event by Lake Burley Griffin. Artist Patricia Piccinini told Nine Newspapers’ podcast Good Weekend Talks that she was amazed at the international attention the original Skywhale received. “It was an intense reaction all over the world and I was shocked and amazed and thrilled,” she told Good Weekend Talks. READ MORE: Capturing the taste of Skywhale Six years after Skywhale’s launch, she was asked to create another balloon for Canberra and, before long, Skywhalepapa was born. “He’s gigantic; he’s taller than the Skywhale, he’s more muscular, I suppose,” she said of the approximately 500 kilogram hot air balloon. “The original Skywhale was a work about how nature is wondrous. “Nature is beautiful and amazing … we’re just lucky, lucky to be a part of it. “If Skywhale was about wonder, Skywhalepapa is about care and this seems a very important aspect of our lives today. “Care has traditionally been a gendered thing, seen as a female thing and traditionally caring roles have been undervalued. “But now I think there’s a big shift that’s come about and we understand that care’s vitally important. “I thought … this is something that could be reflected back to us in this sculpture and kind of celebrated.” NGA director Nick Mitzevich told The Canberra Times he found it interesting how in less than a decade, Skywhale had become an iconic Canberra symbol. “Things generally in society take longer than that,” he said. “[Canberra] appears to be just a big country town, but it’s socially progressive, it moves to the beat of its own drum,” he says. “When Skywhalepapa joins the family, with all the kids, it is a floating family that it’s very much rooted in Canberra.” READ MORE: Controversial artwork rises above all the hot air Curator Jaklyn Babington said Canberra had grown up a lot since the launch of Skywhale. “Canberra has expanded in all sorts of ways. Culturally we’re much more mature, I think.” The first launch date of the new creation will be on February 6 at 5.30am, followed by two more on March 8 and April 3. For faster access to the latest Canberra news, download The Canberra Times app for iOS and Android.
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A week before it takes to the skies of the capital for the first time, the newest member of the Skywhale family has been revealed.
Images from Nine Newspapers of a December test flight at Gundaroo show Skywhalepapa alongside the Canberra cult figure Skywhale.
The National Gallery commissioned the second father figure of the family after buying the original Skywhale, which was originally commissioned by the ACT to celebrate Canberra’s centenary in 2013.
Skywhalepapa will be officially launched in Canberra next weekend at a ticketed event by Lake Burley Griffin.
Artist Patricia Piccinini told Nine Newspapers’ podcast Good Weekend Talks that she was amazed at the international attention the original Skywhale received.
“It was an intense reaction all over the world and I was shocked and amazed and thrilled,” she told Good Weekend Talks.
Six years after Skywhale’s launch, she was asked to create another balloon for Canberra and, before long, Skywhalepapa was born.
“He’s gigantic; he’s taller than the Skywhale, he’s more muscular, I suppose,” she said of the approximately 500 kilogram hot air balloon.
“The original Skywhale was a work about how nature is wondrous.
“Nature is beautiful and amazing … we’re just lucky, lucky to be a part of it.
“If Skywhale was about wonder, Skywhalepapa is about care and this seems a very important aspect of our lives today.
“Care has traditionally been a gendered thing, seen as a female thing and traditionally caring roles have been undervalued.
“But now I think there’s a big shift that’s come about and we understand that care’s vitally important.
“I thought … this is something that could be reflected back to us in this sculpture and kind of celebrated.”
When Skywhalepapa joins the family, with all the kids, it is a floating family that it’s very much rooted in Canberra
Nick Mitzevich, NGA director
NGA director Nick Mitzevich told The Canberra Times he found it interesting how in less than a decade, Skywhale had become an iconic Canberra symbol.
“Things generally in society take longer than that,” he said.
“[Canberra] appears to be just a big country town, but it’s socially progressive, it moves to the beat of its own drum,” he says. “When Skywhalepapa joins the family, with all the kids, it is a floating family that it’s very much rooted in Canberra.”
Curator Jaklyn Babington said Canberra had grown up a lot since the launch of Skywhale.
“Canberra has expanded in all sorts of ways. Culturally we’re much more mature, I think.”
The first launch date of the new creation will be on February 6 at 5.30am, followed by two more on March 8 and April 3.
