The eagle has landed at The Creator Incubator, and it's made entirely of chocolate.
The giant sea eagle with a two-metre wing span, clutching a fish in its talons, will be suspended from the ceiling at the Skills Collider creative space in Hamilton this weekend for the Chocol'art Exhibition (October 17 to 19).
The interactive moving chocolate art installation will also feature seven chocolate seagulls with one-metre wingspans, also suspended from the ceiling and "flying" through the projected backdrop of footage over Newcastle beaches.
A wheel animating a large chocolate seagull can be operated by visitors to the exhibition.
The sculptures are made of repurposed chocolate supplied by sponsor Fmayer/Callebaut Australia and are the result of hundreds of hours of painstaking skilled labour.
The unique fusion of chocolate mastery and artistic vision is the brainchild of Skills for Trades, a collaborative creative team founded by a group of industry leaders passionate about training and promoting the next generation of bakers and pastry chefs.
Pastry chef and chocolatier Dean Gibson, industrial designer Jon Pryer and Fivespice Creative videographer Shane Williams (with graphic designer Vanessa Anton) have been collaborating on projects and supporting Australian international competition teams since 2014. Together they have created moving chocolate showpieces including Iron Shark and Raven's Voyage, inviting young tradespeople to lend a hand and learn new skills.
Skills Collider, Skills for Trades' dedicated creative space, officially launches at 6pm on Friday as part of Skills for Trades' ongoing mission to inspire future industry talent, encourage knowledge sharing and elevate public appreciation of the baking and patisserie trades.
Mr Williams can't believe that an industry that is celebrated - even revered - in Europe remains relatively unknown here in Australia.
He cites as an example Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF), a competition for craftspeople held in France every four years. It was launched in 1924 to revive the dwindling number of traditional craftspeople in France, reward professional achievement, and pass on skills and knowledge to the next generation. Mr Williams would like to see something similar initiated in Australia.
"Overseas, the top pastry chefs in international competitions are treated like rock stars wherever they go," he said.
"International competitions overseas are like the Olympics for pastry chefs, and we don't know anything about them. I only found out in 2012 when I got to know Dean, and he and Adriano Zumbo (who used to be Dean's apprentice) were competing.
"We know all about sport on the international stage, and the government encourages the development of sporting talent, but not for pastry chefs."
It is interesting, I suggest, that a lot of attention is given to national pie, barbecue and sausage competitions, but not the incredibly delicate and time-consuming work undertaken by pastry chefs and chocolatiers.
"Absolutely," replied Mr Williams.
"I want to create a TV series, a documentary, to show what really happens behind the scenes of international competitions and how much work is involved to get to that skill level, including here in Australia."
The Chocol'art Exhibition has attracted young talent like Johanna Gray, sous chef at Rick Stein Bannisters Port Stephens, and Alexander Karbowiak, who works at Gelato Messina in Sydney, both former students of Mr Gibson's.
Brothers William and Josh Nickl, who work at Gumnut Patisserie at Bowral, were also keen to get involved. William, a student at Bowral High, recently won the Patisserie Award at the National Excellence in Baking Awards.
"This creative space, Skills Collider, has got chocolate machines, benches, tools ... it's a welcoming space for innovation and collaboration and we hope it gains momentum," Mr Gibson said.
"This is an inter-generational learning space and a lot of young people are coming in and contributing, and some we have already earmarked for competition.
"We're offering a pathway for hospitality to take that next step."
