Superlambanana is a bright yellow sculpture located in
Liverpool. Weighing almost eight tons and standing at 17 feet tall, it
is intended to be a cross between a banana and a lamb and was designed by
Manhattan-based Japanese artist Taro Chiezo. It currently stands in Tithebarn
Street, outside the Liverpool John Moores University Avril Robarts Library/Learning
Resource Centre, having previously been located on Wapping near the Albert Dock.
Chiezo himself only created a four-inch model, with four
local artists: Andy Small, Julian Taylor, Tommy Reason and Ray Stokes, creating
the full size replica. Developed for the 1998 ArtTransPennine Exhibition, the
sculpture is both a comment on the dangers of genetic engineering and also
heavily influenced by the history of Liverpool :
historically both sheep and bananas were common cargos in the city's docks. It
was created using a wire-mesh frame that supported a concrete and fibreglass
shell and was developed at the former
Bryant and May Matchworks factory in the south of the City at a total cost of
£35,000. The sculpture was at first considered controversial and there was
scepticism regarding its purpose and value. However it soon became a popular
symbol in the city and a valued piece of public art. At the end of the
ArtTransPennine Exhibition, responsibility for the sculpture was handed to the
Liverpool Architecture and Design Trust.

In 2008, as part of Liverpool 's
year-long position as European Capital of Culture, 125 individually designed
miniature replicas were created. Sponsored by local community organisations and
businesses in the city, the mini Superlambananas were located throughout the Liverpool and Merseyside region. One sculpture, The
Highest SuperLambBanana, was located on top of Moel Famau, North
Wales , recognising the very close links the city has with that
region.
Time in the Liverpool area
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Pete Price Superlambanana |
Since the sculpture's conception it was intended to move
around the city and not remain in one location. It was located on the Strand
near Liverpool's famous Liver Building and has since been located in several places
including Williamson Square ,
Spike Island
in Halton, Cheshire ,
and on Wapping, close to the Albert Dock. Although its usual colour is yellow,
the statue has occasionally been given a temporary repaint as part of a
sponsorship arrangement. Colours have included pink, during a period of
sponsorship by the breast cancer awareness charity Breakthrough, the colours of
a Friesian cow during a period of 'quasi-vandalism', and purple during the
SmokeFree Liverpool campaign.
The most popular superlambanana at an auction of the iconic
sculptures held in 2008 has been donated to a Liverpool
museum by one of the city's most famous sons. Phil Redmond, creator of Brookside , Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, bought Mandy
Mandala at a charity auction of 170 superlambananas for £25,000. Now the
creative director of Capital of Culture events, Mr Redmond has handed her to
World Museum Liverpool.
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Mandy Mandala attracted the highest bids in the auction
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Links
Sources
Liverpool Central Library
Superlambanana Official Website
Liverpool Records Office
Bob Edwards