Patricia Piccinini talks about care and control in her new balloon Skywhalepapa

‘It is more than the objects – it is a culture,’ said Patricia Piccinini, of her Skywhale family, and their capacity to capture a collective contemporary narrative of family and care – and dealing with a lack of control.

Like all good things, we have had to wait for Skywhalepapa – the companion to Patricia Piccinini’s much-loved Skywhale – which was due to launch last March.

The new monumental sculptural hot-air balloon will take its maiden flight over Canberra this weekend (7 February), with further flights scheduled for March and April, before commencing a national tour.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina