Surfacing the Unseen

Strictly speaking, this artwork cannot really be “unveiled” today – the wall is simply too large to cover. Stretching around the corner at the entrance to the Seefischmarkt, between the ferry terminal and the shopping street, it has been transformed from a plain grey surface into a vibrant display of colour. A seal, cod, shore crab and seagrass appear in oversized form, accompanied by small jellyfish, fish, a crown and a yellow submarine. The wall was made available for the project by Markmann Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG.

The motifs were created by artist Marina Friedrich together with pupils from the “Jellyfish Class” at Gaarden Primary School. During a series of workshops this spring, the children worked with GEOMAR scientists on questions such as: “What lies beneath the surface of the Baltic Sea?”, “Which animals and plants live there?”, “How is water layered?” and “Why do animals not freeze in the water?” Inspired by the answers, the pupils created their own underwater worlds, which then served as the foundation for the mural.

“I divided the wall into five vertical sections,” explains Marina Friedrich. “Each one reflects one of the workshop themes.” The central section is dedicated entirely to the children’s designs, while the surrounding sections combine Friedrich’s own artistic interpretations of marine topics with the pupils’ ideas. Although the trained illustrator has been painting murals for some time, this is her largest project to date. Over the course of a week, she transformed the vast wall into a colourful panorama, supported by generous contributions from the local businesses Günter Mecklenburg Malermeister and Gerüstbau Vogel, which donated their time as well as the paints and scaffolding needed for the project.

The project is titled “Surfacing the Unseen: A Mural for Sustainable Oceans”. Its aim is to make visible what often remains hidden beneath the water’s surface. The timing of the inauguration on World Ocean Day is therefore particularly fitting. Each year, the international observance highlights the ecological importance of the ocean and the threats it faces from climate change, pollution and overfishing.

“We wanted to show the children how beautiful, fascinating and worth protecting the Baltic Sea and the ocean are. With their help, we then sought to communicate this message through the mural. We hope that the artwork will now help raise public awareness of the importance, diversity and exploration of the ocean,” says Prof. Dr Stephan Juricke, Professor of Theoretical Oceanography at GEOMAR. He initiated the project together with Dr Lara Schmittmann and Dr Felix Mittermayer-Schmittmann. Funding came from GEOMAR’s EngageComm Fund, which supports projects that bring science and society into dialogue and make research visible beyond lecture halls, laboratories and research vessels. Here, the unseen has quite literally surfaced in the heart of Kiel’s east shore district.