Giant kookaburra sculptor dies after battling bowel cancer

Artist Farvardin Daliri has died after an 18 month battle with bowel cancer, during which he continued his art for inspiration and change.

Executive director of Townsville Cultural Festival, Farvardin Daliri, during preparations for a past event. Family have let the public know that Dr Daliri has died after an 18 month battle with bowel cancer. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Artist and cultural advocate Dr Farvardin Daliri, OAM has died after an 18 month battle with bowel cancer.

Dr Daliri contributed enormously to cultural events and made international headlines during COVID-19 for his 750kg laughing Kookaburra sculpture which he transported along the Bruce Highway to Townsville.

His art used large scale public works, which also included a koala and serpent, to highlight the issues of marginalised communities.

His family posted a statement on social media recognising his achievements and said his commitment to Baha’i principles including unity, justice and equality was “brilliantly evident in every moment of his life.”

“Farvardin was a friend to all of humanity and a father figure to 1000s upon 1000s of people young and old across the world,” his family wrote.

The Order of Australia recipient pictured promoting the Carnival of Joy as an organiser and artist.

“His generous mentorship, effortless heartfelt guidance and unmatched wisdom, zest for the simple joys of life and insistent events, festivals and conferences for Unity in Diversity have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands.”

Earlier this year his son Erfan published a video on LinkedIn commemorating his journey a year after his diagnosis, which celebrated his continued commitment to joy, dancing, and art.

“To say he has battled valiantly against this ailment would be an understatement.,” Erfan said at the time.

Dr Daliri made international headlines for his work constructing a 4m laughing kookaburra during the Covid-19 pandemic, which he drove from Brisbane to Townsville while stopping in towns along the way.

“He has been an absolute warrior.

“And now in one of his greatest life challenges ever, he is using art once again as a medium for inspiration and change.

“For my father this was just another challenge in an already challenging life and yet another opportunity to learn, to teach and to serve.

Farvardin Daliri has long been recognised for his contributions to multiculturalism, culture and harmony. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“Over the past 12 months in the face of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, pain and nausea he has continued to create masterpieces.”

Dr Daliri was dedicated to his Baha’i Faith but needed to escape religious prosecution in Iran when he was 19, and became a sculptor and painter in India for 10 years.

Dr Daliri moved to Australia in 1984 as a refugee, became a citizen in two years, settled in Townsville in 1989, and promoted numerous cultural events as an executive director of the Townsville Intercultural Centre.

Farvardin Daliri at the Townsville's Perc Tucker Regional Gallery when it had an exhibition of his paintings. Picture: Evan Morgan

He said he was closely attached to Townsville because the people were still connected to the community, and he valued that link with Australia and proximity to Indigenous people.

He championed these cultures, and contributed to the recognition of Plantation Creek as a traditional sacred site through the creation of a giant python statue in the 2000s.

In January last year he announced he had been diagnosed that same month and that he would begin six months of chemotherapy under the care of his family.

Farvardin Daliri said he was connected to Townsville because of the community feel, which was not the same in capital cities such as Melbourne. Picture: Shae Beplate.

“While this has all been very sudden, I remind myself that the universe is not decided,” he said.

“It is constantly existing, not existing … and so my call to the universe in each moment is: Bring it on my friend, and give it all in one go.”

Originally published as Giant kookaburra sculptor dies after battling bowel cancer