Welcome Skywhalepapa!

Congratulations to Patricia Piccinini on the arrival of Skywhalepapa – a new monumental sculpture in the form of a hot-air balloon. A companion to Skywhale (2013), together they form a skywhale family that launched in Canberra on 7 February 2021. Two further Canberra skywhale flights are scheduled for 8 March and 3 April 2021. The sculptures will float across the skies of Australia as a National Gallery Touring Exhibition throughout 2021 and 2022.

The Skywhales: Every heart sings project spans music and song to knitting and baking. The story of the skywhale family is told in Patricia Piccinini’s new children’s book Every Heart Sings, while an NGA exhibition brings together studio drawings and 3D models. Musician Jess Green (AKA Pheno) has created a song, We are the Skywhales, keen knitters can make their own skywhales from a pattern developed by a local Canberra knitter, and Three Mills Bakery have produced a limited edition skywhales croissant for the three Canberra flight events.

Skywhales: Every heart sings is the third instalment of The Balnaves Contemporary Series. Read more in The Age Good Weekend and The Guardian.

Image courtesy National Gallery of Australia.