Karin Koch was inspired to start the world’s first animal poo painting competition after purchasing a large and highly detailed painting created out of cow dung by the German artist Werner Härtl.
Koch then commissioned the Tasmanian artist Mel Hills to paint wombats using wombat poo and a pademelon with pademelon poo collected from her garden.
“All three paintings are now on display at the Pooseum, so holding a poo painting competition was simply the next logical step,” Koch said.
The competition, which began in 2024, is run by Koch, who in 2018 founded the Pooseum, a science museum dedicated to the intriguing world of animal droppings.
The idea of opening a museum about faeces came to Koch, who is in her sixties, after a close friend died of bowel cancer in 2016.
“He had noticed blood in his stool for two years but never told anyone,” she said. “In his generation, talking about such things was taboo and that silence unfortunately cost him his life.”
To try and break that taboo and raise awareness of bowel cancer, Koch initially wanted to create an exhibition focused on human faeces. But her focus shifted after she moved to Tasmania to enjoy the island’s clean air and endless bushwalking opportunities.
“Surrounded by nature and with animal droppings everywhere I realised that no one had ever dedicated an entire museum to animal faeces despite it being such a fascinating scientific topic,” Koch said.
“So I decided to go ahead and open the Pooseum.”
The Poo-tastic Tasmania Paint Off competition is open to amateur and professional artists, but all poo painters must be at least 16 as they need to collect and handle animal droppings.
The theme for this year’s competition is Expressive Portraits: Faces with Faeces.
“When choosing a subject for their portrait painting, artists should choose someone they know well or admire,” Koch said.
Despite animal faeces being the medium, Koch said it’s a serious art competition.
In their submission, artists must include the artwork, a written description, a short biography of the artist, a high resolution headshot and a video that shows the artist creating their painting.
Competitors can submit up to two artworks and there is no registration fee.
For those lucky enough to win first, second or third place, their artworks will be put on display at the Pooseum in Richmond – a small town of about 900 people just north of Hobart.
The winners will be announced on 8 December.