It's 18 metres long, with a head weighing 1.3 tonnes (1,300kg), and now the giant Buddha statue has made its home in Melbourne.
Eternity – Buddha in Nirvana has been designed by Xu Zhen, an artist from Shanghai, who has been described as “the Maurizio Cattelan [a famous Italian artist] of China”.
The artwork is a replica of a famous sleeping Buddha statue in the country's northwestern caves.
Zhen had to get special permission to go into the closed caves and 3D scan the original in order to recreate the piece.
The artwork had to be cut into 12 pieces in order to get into the gallery. Source: Rangi Hirini
It took three years to construct, then had to be separated into 12 pieces to get it from China to Australia - which took several weeks. It has taken another three for a team of Zhen’s staff and studio workers to assemble it at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Tony Ellwood, Director of the National Gallery of Victoria, told SBS World News the Gallery wanted something “speculator” and they are “delighted” with the results.
Eternity-Buddha in Nirvana by Xu Zhen. Source: SBS News
“This is a unique commission between Melbourne and the artist.”
“People are already scratching their heads to how we got this in here, in fact even our own staff are saying this is has been a major undertaking,” Mr Ellwood said.
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Simon Maidment, the gallery's senior curator of contemporary art, describes Zhen as “one of the most successful [Chinese artists] for his generation”.
More than just art
But the Buddha is more than just a huge statue in the middle of the NGV.
Mr Ellwood said the piece is about understanding what’s going on in today’s world.
“This work is really meant to represent religious tolerance. It’s talking about the Buddhist figure and the different 14 other figures which are climbing across it which are already representing different kinds of faith.
“So it’s about this idea of multi-faith, harmony, understanding, tolerance, in what can often be a turbulence world today.
"... [Its] intent is to be about goodwill and peace and it’s a lovely way to start to the exhibition.”
The Buddha is part of the gallery's Triennial exhibition which will look at the world’s past and future, and feature works from over 100 artists representing 33 countries.
Senior Curator Simon Maidment described the installation of Zhen’s work as “complex, technical and nerve-wracking”.
“We’ve worked very closely with the studio over a period of time and we’ve literally measured every door and turn way in the whole building in order to have it manufactured so it fits through the very particular conditions that we have,” he said.
The NGV Triennial starts on December 15 and runs until April. It is a free exhibition.
