Project

What is Balticarium?

We work with the future and development of children in mind. We want to enrich their knowledge in an entertaining way. We believe in learning through play. We hope we are powerful enough to increase children’s ecological awareness, so in the future they themselves will feel the need to protect the environment.

Balticarium is an innovative project for children and adults. Its aim is to popularise the world of the Baltic Sea. The project, along with its author, Natalia Uryniuk, have been awarded the “Young Poland 2016” stipend, which is granted by the National Centre for the Culture Poland.

Being in its early stage, the project consists of a website with interactive games about the animals living in the Baltic Sea. At the same time, it teaches about the importance of environmental protection.

The project connects all the Baltic countries. Its goal is to make children and their parents aware of the significance of joint collaboration and realize everyone has an impact on the future of the fauna and flora that surround us. The Baltic Sea is our common good and treasure.

The collaboration itself is an important element of the project. Balticarium is an initiative joining the forces of 'the Friends of Balticarium' , people who want to act in order to popularise the knowledge of the Baltic Sea. Thanks to such approach, the project has an enormous chance to grow. Together we can change our environment and minimise the problems associated with the Sea. All this can be achieved by the means of the innovative mix of art and science.

Motto

We inspire children's imagination, bringing them into the rich world of the Baltic Sea, and then letting them discover its mysteries.

THE CORE OF THE PROJECT

We connect two worlds:, those of art and science. We want to convince everyone that exploring the Baltic secrets can be a mixture of passion, science, humour, art and design.
We believe that children will make friends with the Baltic creatures, and from their very early years they will want to care for them.
The publications on the sea available on the market so far, have been aimed at those who have specialised knowledge of the Baltic Sea. Publications created for the youngest readers are scarce.
We collect and share information about events presenting the Baltic Sea and organised for children. Therefore, the website's audience can learn through play and virtual workshops, acquiring the knowledge about environmental protection.
The project is consulted with children, students of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, biologists from the University of Gdansk's Institute of Oceanography in Gdynia, Poland, educationalists and parents.

DEVELOPMENT PLANS

In the future, we plan to:

create workshops and present lectures for children and adults
produce animated cartoons
write further educational books about the Baltic Sea
record a radio play for children
produce a theatrical performance
record a music album inspired by the Baltic Sea
design fashion collection for children and adults
translate the website and the books into the Baltic languages
design educational toys, board games and mobile apps

By becoming the friend of the project you can contribute to bringing those ideas to life.

Author

Natalia Uryniuk

artist, illustrator

Doctor of Arts - diploma obtained in 2022 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, the supervisor of the thesis is prof. Slawomir Witkowski. Master's degree defended in 2014 in the studio of prof. Janusz Górski and Dr. Anita Wasik. Natalia specializes in painting and graphics, creates educational games for children, picture books and textile designs. Author of the artistic and educational project translated into 9 languages Balticarium.com about the animals of the Baltic Sea, which received a distinction in the Social Campaign of the Year competition, is under the honorary patronage of the Ombudsman for Children and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland. The artist was awarded Minister of Culture and National Heritage, "Young Poland" scholarship. She also studied in Portugal as a scholarship holder of Escola Superior Artística in Porto. Her works are shown at many exhibitions, including galleries in Singapore, Cairo, Berlin, Hong Kong, Porto, Beijing and numerous cities in Poland. Particularly noteworthy is the individual exhibition at the prestigious Kordegarda Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. Author of illustrations for children's books: "Play in Gdańsk", "On the trail of Kashubia", "Ping and Pong", "Balticarium - Baltic exercise book", "Balticarium - sea games", "Balticarium" and "Jump across the Baltic Sea". The book "Balticarium" is an illustrated compendium of knowledge about the Baltic Sea and was published in 2019 by the Wytwórnia publishing house. The book "Jump across the Baltic Sea" is Monika Milewska's story about the beach ball that meets Baltic animals. This is the latest publication published as part of the Balticarium project by the Widnokrąg publishing house in 2021 and in Sweden in 2023 by Punkt förlag. Privately, Natalia is mother of Mikołaj - a little confectioner and gardener. Her goal is to build in children their curiosity of the world and desire to help others.

portfolio

facebook