The Skywhale, a hot air balloon sculpture by artist Patricia Piccinini. Photo: Fairfax Media
The Skywhale, a hot air balloon sculpture by artist Patricia Piccinini. Photo: Fairfax Media
The Skywhale, a hot air balloon sculpture by artist Patricia Piccinini. Photo: Fairfax Media
The Skywhale, a hot air balloon sculpture by artist Patricia Piccinini. Photo: Fairfax Media
The Skywhale, a hot air balloon sculpture by artist Patricia Piccinini. Photo: Fairfax Media
Patricia Piccinini with one of her other sculptures, 'The strength of one arm', at the Canberra Museum and Gallery, in Canberra. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Patricia Piccinini with one of her other sculptures, 'The strength of one arm', at the Canberra Museum and Gallery, in Canberra. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
The Centenary of Canberra has launched its largest commission – a sculpture by internationally renowned artist and former Canberran Patricia Piccinini that is a 34m long, 23m high hot-air balloon called The Skywhale.
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The Skywhale is at least twice as big as a standard hot-air balloon, weighs half a tonne and used more than 3.5km of fabric. It took 16 people seven months and more than 3.3 million stitches to design and make.
It will be tethered near the National Gallery of Australia on Saturday morning as part of an international sculpture symposium. On Monday it will make its first flight over Canberra.
