Animal poo painting competition aimed at normalising faeces
Tasmanian museum owner Karin Koch created the world's first animal poo painting competition because she's passionate about destigmatising faeces, but also to have fun.
Ms Koch is the creator and owner of Pooseum, a primarily science museum dedicated to dung.
In 2024, she invited artists to submit works made with animal poo in her inaugural competition called the Poo-tastic Tasmanian Paint Off, with a $2,000 prize on offer for the winner.
After a successful first year, the contest returns, this year asking artists to paint "expressive portraits" made with animal poo.
A commissioned portrait of former politician, and environmentalist, Bob Brown, painted with pademelon droppings provides inspiration for aspiring poo artists.
Ms Koch said the death of a close friend to bowel cancer, who had noticed blood in his stools but kept the information secret for two years, inspired her to open the museum.
She initially planned a museum dedicated to human faeces but, after moving from mainland Australia to Tasmania, her focused shifted to animal poo.
"For thousands of years, animal faeces have been used in various ways, particularly in rural regions across Asia and Africa," Ms Koch said.
Ms Koch has commissioned paintings and sculptures made using animal dung to hang on the walls of the Pooseum.
She has sourced artworks and sculptures from as far as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
A "highly detailed" artwork in cow dung and gold leaf by German artist Werner Härtl hangs on the wall of Pooseum.
The artist began to create artworks from diluted dung when employed as a farm worker in 2012 and described it as an "extremely versatile" product.
Artist Karen Lyttle had never created an artwork from animal poo prior to winning the inaugural poo-painting competition in 2024.
Her piece, named Crap Wallpaper, shows three plump pademelons, their intestinal tracts and, appropriately, their droppings.
"The whole pattern is based on eating and defecating," Lyttle said.
Lyttle combined the grass-textured and cylindrical droppings of pademelons with PVA glue and water to create her paint.
"It was a real learning curve … I tried different mixtures with it, like oil and all sorts of things," she said.
Lyttle embraced the product's versatility and said working with pademelon poo quickly felt "totally natural".
"The nutrients [from poo] go back into the ground … to help Australian farmlands … it's the whole cycle of life."
This year's rules are stricter, and a theme has been introduced for the competition, which is open to Tasmanian-based artists only.
Ms Koch said her expectations are "much higher" after a successful first year.
In the 2024 competition there was no theme, but for the 2025 competition, Ms Koch said she selected portraiture as she loved painting portraits herself.
Ahead of the competition, she commissioned a large portrait from Tasmanian-based portrait artist Ewen Welsh, who selected the person to be depicted.
Welsh approached Bob Brown through Dr Brown's partner, Paul Thomas.
According to Mr Welsh, the former politician, and environmentalist, "straight away said yes", but asked Welsh to wait to share the portrait until after the latest federal election.
"Every stage I sent [him] an email and said, 'Is this OK? Do I have your permission?'" Welsh said.
Ms Koch said she was "extremely proud" to display the portrait of Bob Brown.
She is excited to see submissions for this year's competition.
"I've always enjoyed doing things that haven't been done before," Ms Koch said.
"Though primarily a science museum, the Pooseum balances education with humour, proving that even something as gross and messy as faeces can be a fascinating subject for learning."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Lab-grown meat on the menu in Aussie restaurants
It's not science fiction anymore ... it's dinner. Lab-grown meat is hitting the tables at fancy restaurants in Australia. After a two-year-long approval process, Food Standards Australia New Zealand has given startup Vow foods the green light to sell products made from cultured quail cells. Would you eat it? Guests:
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Stop with the men': Big problem with reaction to Tammy Hembrow's divorce
When Tammy Hembrow announced her divorce, it came with a disclaimer that says everything about the impossible standards to which we hold women. Ms Hembrow's divorce news, much like The Project being canned, isn't the shock of the century. The writing was on the influencer wall. Despite only marrying Love Island alum turned podcaster Matt Zukowski in November 2024 in a lavish Byron Bay ceremony, the pair hadn't been seen together in a long time, and Ms Hembrow had been lip-synching to break-up songs online. Both influencers released separate statements. Mr Zukowski went with the classic Instagram Story with a black background (because a divorce post does require a respectful colour palette choice), and Ms Hembrow went on TikTok. The fitness influencer sobbed as she discussed the demise of her marriage and said she was 'humiliated'. Ms Hembrow tearfully pointed out the obvious that, when she married her husband, she thought it was going to be forever. 'Did I think this was going to happen? No. Did I want this? No. Obviously, when you marry someone, you do it thinking … that it is going to be forever,' she said. 'I blame no one but myself.' Ms Hembrow came across as heartbroken, but also like a woman who knew she was about to get slammed because her relationship didn't work out. 'Obviously, I get a lot of nasty comments like, 'Oh, another marriage'. This is my first marriage, just FYI,' she said. 'No comment that anyone can say, nothing anyone could say, could make me feel more sh*t than I already do and more humiliated. 'I already think that about myself right now. I don't think those comments are getting to me because I'm already there.' Ms Hembrow gets particularly scrutinised because she's also a mother and has three children with two different men. Her son Wolf and daughter Saskia are from her relationship with Reece Hawkins, which ended in 2018. Then, in 2020, she started dating athlete Matt Poole. They got engaged and had a daughter, Posy, in 2022 but split in the same year. Ms Hembrow was on the money because, among the supportive comments, there was a slew of backhanded remarks claiming she rushed into the relationship or that they always knew it would end this way. Some commentators were more direct. Someone said to 'stop with the men', which is a pretty wild thing to say to a woman in her prime. 'I'm sorry, but I am convinced it is you at this point,' another wrote. In comparison, Mr Zukowski released his own break-up statement. He didn't address any potential backlash, probably because he predicts there will be none. 'It's with a heavy heart I share that Tammy and I have decided to separate. Both of us have struggled with this decision; however, he wrote that we need to do what is right for ourselves and her three children,' he wrote. The response must have been good because he later posted another Instagram story and thanked fans for their kind messages. While Ms Hembrow is trying to navigate searing criticism, Mr Zukowski is being met with empathy. It's a bizarre double standard. Yes, there's a difference in circumstances - Ms Hembrow is a mother - but otherwise, their relationship histories are similar. Ms Hembrow has had two serious relationships play out in the public eye and Mr Zukowski dated his Love Island co-star Cartier Surjan and then a woman named Genevieve for over a year and a half. The key difference is that Ms Hembrow is a woman and, when men date and have relationships or marriages that don't work out, they are seen as players or eligible bachelors, while women are seen as failures. It is tired rhetoric. Wasn't Taylor Swift trying to shake this off back in 2012? When she dated a couple of men in her twenties, she was seen as desperate and like someone who couldn't keep a man. Ms Hembrow, through tears, spoke about feeling 'humiliated' when she announced her divorce, and that probably has nothing to do with her marriage ending and far more to do with the mean stuff people say to women when relationships fail. Somehow, a marriage can fall apart that involves two people, but only the women is left 'humiliated', and how on earth is that fair? Ms Hembrow doesn't need to stop with the men … we need to stop with the sexism.
Daily Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
AC/DC announce Power Up concerts in Australia
Don't miss out on the headlines from Music Tours. Followed categories will be added to My News. The world's greatest hard rock band AC/DC has confirmed they are coming home to Australian stadiums for their first shows in a decade in November and December. The good news is the legendary stadium rock kings will open the Power Up concerts at the MCG on November 12 before heading to Sydney's Accor Stadium on November 21, the bp Adelaide Grand Final on November 30, Perth's Optus Stadium on December 4 and Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on December 14. The bad news is the online battle for tickets to their five shows will be a virtual highway to hell. Demand will be off the charts. The rock legends sold 1.7 million tickets in one day for the opening European leg of the tour. AC/DC have been carving up stages in Europe and US on the Power Up world tour. Picture: Christie Goodwin. It's been 10 years since they tore up our biggest stages and their Aussie fanbase now stretches across five generations. There's also an international AC/DC army of European, South American and North American fans who follow the tour around the globe. Because Angus Young is a fans-first, no-nonsense kind of rocker, unlike every other stadium act there are no pre-sales, so there is an equal playing ground for tickets which are priced from $132.45 including booking fee. 'They want everyone to have an equal opportunity to get tickets. AC/DC are extremely fan focused, always have been, so no pre-sales, accessible ticket prices and an unbelievable show,' their Australian promoter Christo Van Egmond said. While it takes a few days to transport and erect the giant Power Up staging and lighting, it appears there are gaps in the Australian tour schedule to add extra shows. The band sold more than 520,000 tickets when they last toured Australia on the Rock or Bust run in 2015. For those about to rock, Angus salutes you! Picture: Christie Goodwin. The promoter, who took the reins of TEG Van Egmond built by his late father Garry who toured AC/DC in Australia for 40 years, said the rockers have been in searing form during their runs in Europe and America over the past year. Christo has seen more than 60 AC/DC shows since he started going with his father when he was nine years old. 'They sound unbelievable; Brian sounds incredible, Angus is absolutely shredding it up and they're on fire at the moment,' he said. The Australian summer stadium concert season is shaping up to Rockember, with Metallica and Oasis also bringing their huge world tours here in late 2025. The Power Up album debuted at No.1 when it was released in 2020, making them the first band to have an Australian chart-topping record in five consecutive decades. Brian Johnson and Young doing their rock god thing. Picture: Christie Goodwin. Tickets to the tour, which will feature Aussie rock stars Amyl and the Sniffers as the support act, go on sale via on June 26 at staggered local times - Sydney from 9am, Adelaide from 10am, Brisbane from 11am and Melbourne and Perth from 1pm. All tickets are available via Ticketek except the bp Adelaide Grand Final concert which is sold by Ticketmaster. Ticketek advises fans to disable VPNs or IP-masking tools as your unique IP helps the site to confirm you're a real person, not a bot. The Ticketek Lounge will open one hour before the on sale time and fans are advised to not refresh or close browsers as the page will automatically refresh A spokesman also stressed fans should only attempt to buy tickets with one device as multiple devices or browsers at once may trigger bot protection and could remove you from the queue. All ticket and show details via AC/DC Power Up tour setlist at Huntington Bank Field, Cleveland, Ohio on May 28, 2025. 1. If You Want Blood (You've Got It) 2. Back in Black 3. Demon Fire 4. Shot Down in Flames 5. Thunderstruck 6. Have a Drink on Me 7. Hells Bells 8. Shot in the Dark 9. Stiff Upper Lip 10. Highway to Hell 11. Shoot to Thrill 12. Sin City 13. Rock 'n' Roll Train 14. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap 15. High Voltage 16. Riff Raff 17. You Shook Me All Night Long 18. Whole Lotta Rosie 19. Let There Be Rock (with Angus guitar solo) Encore: 20. T.N.T. 21. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) * Originally published as Stadium slayers AC/DC to carve up Aussie stadiums in November and December
