Playing with balloons

A brave knight clad in silver fights a 15-metre tall, red-and-orange dragon while his lady love looks out from her tower. It might well be a scene from a fairy tale, but it's not. What it really is, is a work of balloon art, by Kobi Kalimian. Created over two days, the Israeli balloon artist used 15,000 balloons at the atrium in a central Mumbai mall during his recent India visit to create and display several installations in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai. To keep the dragon and knight company, were two more installations—a two-metre high dinosaur protecting her eggs from predators, made with 2,000 long twisty balloons, and a dark knight riding a fire-spitting dragon created with 1,500 balloons—at High Street Phoenix's shopping zones Grand Galeria and Skyzone.

The 32-year-old's tryst with balloon art started six years ago on the streets of Jerusalem, where he saw an artist creating simple single-balloon designs, such as a dog or a sword. "As soon as I had access to my computer at home, I looked this up and the skills needed to create balloon art. After learning the basics, I started making balloon sculptures," says the owner of Kobi Balloons, who creates larger-than-life installations for private parties and corporates.

Kalimian is a certified balloon artist (CBA) by Qualatex Balloon Company, and has given a five-hour exam that contained all aspects of the art of balloon designing. "The CBA final exam includes a theory test with complex questions and a practical exam that is based on Qualatex's training DVD, which includes complex mathematical balloon formulae," says the balloon artist, who has created a 12-metre high castle for a party, a huge pirate ship, a giant octopus, a mosaic balloon ceiling, and a Buddha head in water. He has also decorated a venue with a swan arch and has made balloon figures that looked like a bride and groom. But the largest balloon artwork that he has worked on was a 27-metre high dove, which was made from 30,000 balloons. The installation, which was created as a symbol of world peace was done in collaboration with a Dutch balloon artist along with other Israeli artists in Maalot, Israel last April.

While some creations may take a few hours, others take days. "It depends on the size and complexity of the artwork," he says, adding that it is important to understand that behind every creation, there are months of planning the smallest detail. "We use electric pumps that help in inflating two balloons at a time. Some of the balloons have two anchor points, which helps to connect one balloon to another without any string or thread. This helps in creating bigger designs," explains the artist.

Of course, Kalimian's work is no cakewalk. "Some of my biggest challenges have been designing huge models in foreign countries, sometimes in a single day. For my installations in India, I had ordered balloons from Colombia, flew them to Israel, and then I flew with them to India," says the winner of several balloon contests including the first place winner at an international contest run by Qualatex, and first place in an Israeli balloon art contest, where he built an exact model of a weighing scale inspired from a photograph.

He's not just left Mumbaikars amazed by his creativity; back home his five kids are still in awe of their father's work and "always ask for more balloon models," he says.