Patricia Piccinini's 'Skywhale' and 'Skywhalepapa' Will Float Through Melbourne's Skies This Month

It isn't every day that you can peer up at the Melbourne sky and spot a family of giant hot-air balloon sculptures soaring above the city — but on Saturday, March 19, you can do just that. That's when Patricia Piccinini's Skywhalepapa will make its Melbourne debut, floating through the air alongside the artist's otherworldly Skywhale. Our advice: do look up.

Dubbed Skywhales: Every Heart Sings, the distinctive works will take to the air from Yarra Bend's Corban Oval at 5am, then hover above the city. Get up early to see them launch or find a great vantage point to stare into the sky once they're up there — the choice is yours. If you're keen on the former, you'll need to register your interest for tickets, with the eye-catching event taking place as part of this year's MPavilion.

National Gallery of Australia

New to all things Skywhale and Skywhalepapa? Thirty-four-metres long, more than twice as big as a regular hot air balloon and ripped straight from Piccinini's inimitable mind, Skywhale might just be one of Australia's most recognisable recent pieces of art. It's a sight to see, and also the largest-scale example of the artist's ongoing fascination with the thin line that separates nature and technology — see also: her Flinders Street Station Ballroom exhibition — and in Skywhalepapa, it has finally met its match.

The latter made its debut in 2021 thanks to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, but taking both billowing hot air balloons around the country was always the plan. Of course, the pandemic had something to say about that — Skywhalepapa was originally scheduled to premiere in 2020, in fact — but now the duo of sculptures will finally catch the breeze in Melbourne in just a few weeks.

National Gallery of Australia

Skywhalepapa is designed to form a family with Skywhale, and was originally commissioned as part of the NGA's Balnaves Contemporary Series. It took 3.6 kilometres of fabric to create the second bulbous sculpture, which also features nine baby Skywhales, safely tucked beneath their father's fins. Obviously, this isn't the kind of thing you see in the sky every day.

You can also hear Piccinini chat about the Skywhales as part of the MTalks series — and read her children's book called Every Heart Sings as well — from 5.15pm on Thursday, March 10 at MPavilion.

National Gallery of Australia

Skywhales: Every Heart Sings will take to the air over Melbourne for MPavilion 2021–22 at 5am on Saturday, March 19 from Yarra Bend's Corban Oval. For more information or to register your interest for tickets, head to the MPavilion website.