The Big Kookaburra
The Big Kookaburra is found in Kurri Kurri, a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales.
The 4.5-metre tall sculpture was erected at the Rotary Park in 2009 as a gift from the Hydro Aluminium smelter company to the locals to mark the company’s 40th anniversary.
The Kurri Kurri Tidy Town and Hydro Aluminium company were the brains behind the project. Initially, the plan was to mount the monument at a site along Lang Street, but that did not seem like a great idea, considering the street’s “traffic hazard”. It was then decided that the best home for the new member of the Big Things of Australia would be the Rotary Park.
The image of the kookaburra bird is common on many logos of sports clubs and community organizations. The popularity of this bird made it the perfect choice for a sculpture many people could resonate with.
A famous Polkobin artist, Chris Fussell, took on the job of sculpturing the Big Kookaburra. He used recycled aluminium and steel collected from different scrap yards in the region as part of the materials.
But it seems like the Big Kookaburra sculpture has a new companion somewhere in Australia. During the post-Covid19 lockdown, Dr Farvardin Daliri built a Giant Kookaburra in Queensland for the Townsville Cultural Festival.
Although the new kookaburra bird has no home or official name just yet, it is definitely one colossal sculpture guaranteed to grab headlines.
The Big Kookaburra aside, more humongous bird-shaped sculptures are found across different states and territories in Australia. Some great examples include:
- Big Cockatoo in Moosman
- Big Pelican in Noosaville
- Big Powerful Owl in Belconnen
- Big Galahs in Watson
- Big Swan in Dunedoo
- Big Cassowary in Mission Beach
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