When Wall Art Meets Water When Wall Art Meets Water

Discover our exclusive charity collection with Viva con Agua

Discover our exclusive charity collection with Viva con Agua

Water is a fundamental human right. With this in mind, Hamburg-based charity Viva con Agua strives to ensure that all people worldwide have access to clean drinking water. To support them in their endeavours, six of our most popular artists have created a series of designs based on the theme of water. How the campaign works? 20% of the revenue will be donated to Viva con Agua, a more than worthy cause.

11 prints by 6 inspiring artists—find out how they hope to advocate for water aid and why this collaboration is so close to their hearts.

Rosi Feist

Thomas Müller, aka Rosi Feist, centres his prints around consumer life in the United States. Taking everyday items such as plastic chairs, garbage cans and cones of chips, he puts together handmade collages that grab our attention with their boldness and simplicity. In a similar way, Rosi Feist also strips back to the basics in his artworks for the JUNIQE x Viva con Agua Collection: “My designs depict different types of water containers. Some of them are used by people on a daily basis to carry water from its source, such as a well, all the way back home. Others are used in areas where water access is constant and universal. Although containers may vary from place to place, water is necessary to life and survival all over the world—whether it’s obtained from a crystal glass jar or a plastic canister”.

Ninhol

Creating line illustrations, both in colour as well as in black and white, Brazilian artist Ninhol reveals the beauty to be found in simplicity. This can certainly be said of his design for our charity collection, ‘Let the Love Flow’. Minimalist, yet full of meaning, the print advocates for “loving others and life itself” while acknowledging that “water is a basic need and human right”. In this way, Ninhol pays tribute to the philosophy that has underpinned Viva con Agua since its founding back in 2010. It also happens that Ninhol features in many of our Instagram community’s homes, proving that his line art not only addresses humanitarian issues, but reflects current design trends too.

Linda Gobeta

71% of our planet’s surface is made up of water, of which around 97% is salt water from our oceans and seas. The remaining 3%, known as freshwater, constitutes everything else—from rivers and lakes to groundwater flow, the Earth’s atmosphere to living organisms. Fascinating and never-ending, the water cycle forms the basis of Linda Gobeta’s creations for our Viva con Agua campaign. The Latvian graphic designer uses soft pastel colours to capture the entire life cycle of a water droplet—from it “nourishing Mother Earth and her inhabitants to condensing magically into clouds”. Linda’s aim? Emphasising how invaluable water is to the survival of life on Earth.

Water is a vital part of our lives. Every single droplet has its job to do.
Linda Gobeta

Studio Nahili

For Anna Albertine Baronius, aka Studio Nahili, water is an overtly sensory experience—something to taste, touch, feel, and hear. Her ‘We are WATER’ photograph portrays this perfectly, representing the different sounds that water makes, from “a gentle ripple to a wild crash”. By drawing our attention to such details, Studio Nahili reminds us to stop and listen to the element that gives us life—be it in the form of raindrops pattering on our windowpane, or the refreshing sensation of a cold shower on a hot summer’s day. For the industrial design graduate, water truly is a “source of fascination”, our “elixir of life”, and a “fundamental human right”. Considering this philosophy, Studio Nahili’s photography convinces us to think twice about how we go about using and consuming water in our everyday lives.

Dieter Braun

In most parts of Europe, water is available at the turn of a tap. In other parts of the world, however, people have to walk for hours to reach the nearest fresh source. This rift between continents has evidently influenced Dieter Braun in his art-making; many of his designs feature animals native to far-off destinations such as Australia or Africa, where wildlife is faced with threats such as drought and water pollution. As a self-declared advocate for water equality, Dieter was more than happy to join us in supporting this cause: “I’m from Hamburg myself. I live right by the stadium and have been supporting Viva con Agua and their mission right from the very beginning.” His print ‘Water for the World’, designed exclusively for our charity collection, “uses simple graphic design to highlight what it’s all about: making fresh, clean water accessible to everyone across the world”.

I’m delighted to have the opportunity to participate in this campaign and to work towards its goal of ensuring that everyone, everywhere, can simply turn on the tap and get their fair share of water.
Dieter Braun

Chris Abatzis

Chris Abatzis specialises in portrait, food and travel photography. Striving for harmony in his compositions, while balancing light and shade, the photographer takes atmospheric snapshots that capture the essence of a moment. This mindful sense of focus, of living in the moment, can be observed in Chris’s photograph ‘Skin Made of Water’. As the artist explains, it depicts “Water that surrounds us. From a storm brewing up in the skies...to the sheen of a raincoat soaked in precipitation. The result: a juxtaposition between how we perceive water, how it makes us feel, and how it actually behaves”. All in all, Chris’s print acts as an ode to the power of water, the magic of this force of nature, without which life on Earth would be unimaginable.

Whether through a photograph, illustration or line drawing, each of our collaborating artists demonstrates their passion for Viva con Agua’s cause. Get inspired by their designs, and join us in our efforts to democratise access to drinking water, once and for all.

Text: Ina Schulze

Translation: Lucy Woods