UNIS/VIC/110
23 October 2003
"AQA - Water with a Human Face" - A Present to the UN
VIENNA, 23 October (UN Information Service) -- On the occasion of the "International Year of Freshwater 2003", the City of Vienna is donating a unique piece of water art to the VIC-based International Organizations. The Mayor of Vienna, Michael Häupl will present the fountain to Antonio Maria Costa, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna, at the public inauguration at 12.30 on Friday, 24October.
Three events are being celebrated at the same time on that occasion: The International Year of Water, the United Nations Day and the 130th anniversary of the inauguration of the first alpine spring water conduit in Vienna. More than a century later, this pipeline still supplies Vienna with high quality water.
The designer of the fountain, the artist Hansi Dietrich, will also grace to the occasion. With the fountain "AQA - Water with a Human Face" the artist symbolizes the trilogies of body, spirit, and soul as well as that of water, earth, and light. He visualizes the energy that water carries within it. This energy becomes vivid through a delicate construction including a lit glass basin, underlined by a wall installation, on which one can see two faces looking at each other as a symbol for the inter-relation between human beings.
Additional information about the "International Year of Freshwater 2003", the origins and quality of the Vienna water as well as about the artistic fountain and its creator can also be obtained at the public inauguration ceremony.
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For information: Renate Henke, United Nations Information Service (UNIS);
Tel: 01-26026- 3324, e-mail
Renate.Henke@unvienna.org
