International Poster Art Shows: Water is Life!

FRANKFURT and SANKT AUGUSTIN, Germany, March 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- First Prize in the Competition Organised by the German Sanitation, Heating and Air Conditioning Association Goes to Poland - Award Ceremony at the ISH in Frankfurt (Germany) - Incorporated Into the UN's Event Programme to Mark World Water Day

'Water is Life'. Under this slogan, the German Sanitation, Heating and Air Conditioning Association (ZVSHK) held an international poster competition last year. The organisation, which represents the interests of 50,000 craft businesses in Germany, called for students and artists to address the problem of inadequate water and sanitary supplies in large parts of the world. Almost 5,000 participants from 83 countries entered the competition. On Tuesday, the organisation of associations presented the one hundred best poster designs at the world's largest trade fair for heating and sanitary technology, the ISH in Frankfurt (Germany). In first place was the competition entry from Polish artist, Pawel Dadok. His poster shows a person, in peaceful coexistence with different wild animals, drinking from a water hole. The poster caption has the following challenge for the observer: "Behave decently. Be an animal. Water is life".

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110316/443550 )

"With our poster competition, we wanted to address the problems caused by water shortage and water wastage on a worldwide scale. The competition seeks to raise people's awareness of how important it is to have secure access to clean drinking water - in particular the awareness of people in industrial countries, who don't have to worry about having unhindered access to fresh water on a daily basis," explained Manfred Stather, the President of the ZVSHK, at the award ceremony in Frankfurt. The specialist companies in the sanitary, heating and air conditioning industry are the experts for securing clean drinking water installations in Germany. "At the national level, the principle aim of this highly acclaimed poster competition is to demonstrate this expertise and responsibility of our specialist craft businesses," added Manfred Stather.

An exhibition with a selection of 130 works from the poster competition is opening on 22 March 2011 in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of the official programme of events organised by the United Nations to mark World Water Day. The exhibition is also being shown this year in China and Hungary.

The ZVSHK's poster competition was organised under the artistic direction of Professor Heinz-Jüergen Kristahn from Berlin University of the Arts. In addition to the German Sanitary Industry Association (VDS), the ZVSHK was also able to gain the services of Duravit AG, Gentner Verlag and Media Consulta as sponsors for conducting the competition and realising the exhibitions.

4,862 artists from 83 countries entered the 'Water is Life' competition. The expert jury, which was headed by Professor Kristahn, comprised: Jianping He (Germany), Jerzy Skakun (Poland), Isidro Ferrer (Spain), Professor Leo Lin (Taiwan), Professor Fang Cao (China) and Rene Wanner (Switzerland). The specialist panel was supported by Manfred Stather, Elmar Esser, Erwin Fidelis Reisch and Michael von Bock (Germany).

The prize winners are: 1st prize: Pawel Dadok - Poland, 5,000 euros; 2nd prize: Jian Jie - China, 3,000 euros; 3rd prize (shared): Peter Blasl - Austria, 2,000 euros + 3rd prize (shared): Yanyan Chen - China, 2,000 euros.

Special award winners are: ZVSHK President's Award: Aleksander Pujszo - Poland, 1,500 euros; Duravit Special Award: Xiao jun Wang - China, 1,500 euros; Gentner Special Award: Xi Luo - China, 1,500 euros.

The German Sanitation, Heating and Air Conditioning Association (ZVSHK) represents the professional organisation of 50,000 craft businesses with 273,000 employees. It is the founder and sponsor of the world's leading trade fair ISH. The organisation has its headquarters in St. Augustin, Germany. The ZVSHK also has an office in Potsdam (Germany), which represents the organisation's interests in the German capital.

Contact partner for queries: Frank Ebisch, ZVSHK press officer (Germany), Phone: +49(0)2241-9299-114, Mobile: +49(0)151-24156979, Email: f.ebisch@zvshk.de