Danube Art Master continues to inspire children in the Danube Basin countries
Danube Art Master continues to inspire children in the Danube Basin countries
For over ten years, the Danube Art Master competition has been bringing together children from different schools across the Danube River Basin and giving them a new way to experience nature.
The winning artwork for
the International Danube
Art Master 2014 is entitled
Friends of the Water and
was created from material
found on a river bank by
Elena Gorobet from Gymnasium
nr.19, Elizaveta,
mun. Balti, Moldova.
© Ecological Movement of Moldova
The Danube Art Master is a different kind of competition; children do compete against their classmates but look inside and challenge themselves to find a way to present what water means to them and their community. It gives them time to experience the river and its ecosystems; to see the challenges and look for answers. The Danube Art Master competition asks the students to use materials found by the river to create works of art inspired by what they see along its banks. This could mean sculptures, pictures, mosaics or collages made from material such as driftwood, stones or even rubbish dumped along the river.
Children aged 6 to 16 are invited to create their own environmental art inspired by the Danube and its tributaries. Every spring schools, NGOs, associations and day centres in 12 Danube Basin countries – Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine – send out a call for entries. Connecting this unique competition with Danube Day celebrations provides an even bigger perspective of the Danube Art Master. The competition demonstrates how children can connect with the water, growing more and more attached to the Danube and becoming aware of the river’s challenges.
Looking for inspiration. The competition is run on two levels. After first selecting winners on a national level and awarding them in their country, an independent international jury reviews all the works submitted and selects the International Danube Art Master, evaluating each work on creativity, links to the water and aesthetics.
This year 503 artworks were received, created by 1016 children from 191 schools in the Danube Basin countries. The jury was amazed by the quality of the works received, as well as the creativity and novel ideas of the participants. This year young artists to reflect upon the idea “Get active for a living Danube”, the official slogan of Danube Day 2014. Children were encouraged to visit local rivers and surrounding areas and to consider what the environment means to them. They were then asked to interpret their thoughts and inspirations through environmental art using materials they found in and around the rivers. “The Danube Art Master is a fantastic way for young residents of the Danube River Basin to demonstrate their connection to water in a creative way,” said Ivan Zavadsky, Executive Secretary of the ICPDR. “This year it showed particularly vivid examples and I was happy to hear enthusiastic comments from members of the judging panel in the ICPDR countries.”
The Danube Art Master competition demonstrates how children can connect with the water, growing more and more attached to the Danube and becoming aware of the river’s challenges. Below, the second place winner Danube - living water by Romana Rumanová, Michaela Mikleová, Andrea Boncseková, Ivana Baòárová, Katarína Csicsaiová, Lucia Pelantová, Martina Takáèová, Erika Nguyen Duy, Diana Manyuczová and Lilian Teskal, pupils at primary school Rozmarínová in Komárno, Slovakia. Right, the award ceremony in Hungary, and below right, the third place winner, Water Footprint – or – What should I choose ... by Lili Csóti, Marcell Hajdu and Boglárka Jelinek from Kaposvári Kodály Zoltán Központi Általános Iskola in Kaposvár, Hungary.
Crowning the masters. The winning artwork for the International Danube Art Master 2014 is entitled Friends of the Water and was created from material found on a river bank by Elena Gorobet from Gymnasium nr.19, Elizaveta, mun. Balti, Moldova. “Sometimes certain events reveal our real personality, the inner self,” said Gorobet, as she discussed her motivation for creating the artwork, which she contributed through the Ecological Movement of Moldova. “The idea of Friends of the Water appeared instantly because water is life! Therefore it must be protected with all its ‘friends’ and ‘members’. Through my artwork Friends of the Water, I tried to represent the undeniable splendour of the water and of nature in general.”
The second place went to Slovakia for the artwork Danube – living water by Romana Rumanová, Michaela Mikleová, Andrea Boncseková, Ivana Baňárová, Katarína Csicsaiová, Lucia Pelantová, Martina Takáčová, Erika Nguyen Duy, Diana Manyuczová and Lilian Teskal, pupils at primary school Rozmarínová in Komárno, Slovakia. Water Footprint – or – What should I choose ... by Lili Csóti, Marcell Hajdu and Boglárka Jelinek from Kaposvári Kodály Zoltán Központi Általános Iskola in Kaposvár, Hungary won third place.
The competition was organised jointly by the ICPDR in cooperation with the Global Water Partnership Central and Eastern Europe (GWP CEE) with support from the Green Danube Partnership with the Coca-Cola system. The national winners were awarded various prizes during Danube Day celebrations in most countries, and the International Danube Art Master received an underwater camera from the ICPDR and recognition from the entire Danube River Basin.
