Danube Art Master 2012: Czech Republic wins the competition

The International Danube Art Master is selected from the winners of the national 'Danube Art Master' competitions in 14 Danube Basin countries - Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Thousands of children from these 14 countries entered the competition.

The winning artwork, entitled “Rivers 2021!” was created from colored sands and shows rivers as they could look like in 2021 if nothing is done to prevent their pollution. The winning artists were Dalibor Urban and Jakub Vávra of Elementary Art School in Jedovnice Town near Brno. The ICPDR congratulates the winners as well as their teacher Jitka Vávrová and the national organizer Union for the Morava River.

The artwork was inspired by an artwork created by one of the artists last year, which was similar, but made out of glass. The Danube Art Master competition represents an appeal to "get active for the rivers", the official slogan of Danube Day 2012.

"This competition is a fantastic way for young residents of the Danube River Basin to demonstrate their connection to water in a creative way," said Philip Weller, Executive Secretary of the ICPDR. “As every year, I was very impressed by the colourful and very original contributions received.”
Children were encouraged to visit local rivers and surrounding areas and to consider what the environment means to them. They were then asked to reflect their thoughts and inspirations through environmental art using materials from in and around the river.

The competition was jointly organized by the ICPDR in cooperation with the Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe (GWPCEE) with support from the Green Danube Partnership with the Coca Cola system. National winners were awarded water-powered clocks, whereas the International Danube Art Masters will receive an underwater camera.