"Yuri and Katrin Shumakov are superstars of the paper folding world, known for their magical paper kingdoms called Oriland..."

"The most fantastic origami creation ever may be "Oriland," a magical world on the Internet, of 500 people, places, and things..."

"...What makes the origami in Oriland most amazing is that there is no glue or cutting involved - just paper folding more than 20 000 sheets!"

Origami for Fun! by Thiranut Deborah Berry,
Compass Point Books, Minneapolis, MN,
2006, pp 36-37, 40-43

PAPER WORLDS / Welcome to Oriland
by Thiranut Deborah Berry

Paper, paper everywhere? The most fantastic origami creation ever may be "Oriland," a magical world on the Internet, of 500 people, places, and things created by Russian origami artists Yuri and Katrin Shumakov. The Shumakovs created oriland in 2001 it is made up of eight unque kingdoms and took many years to create.

The names of three kingdoms demonstrate the Shumakovs's love for their craft: Papertown, Foldingburg, and Oriville. La Magic is one of the most popular kingdoms. It includes a tiny library, school, and 16 miniature magicians' ouses. la magic's castle is 24 onches (61 cm) high and was made with 930 sheets of paper!

The largest ship in the harbor of Magic Beach is 45 inches (114 cm) long and was made with 500 sheets of paper.

The wizards of La magic live peacefully with dozens of 4- to 6-inch (12- to15-cm) high paper sourceresses, elves, dragons, magiciana, goblins, and, of course, students!

What makes the origami in Oriland most amazing is that there is no glue or cutting involved - just paper folding more than 20 000 sheets!

FAMOUS FOLDERS / Who's made History in Origami?
by Thiranut Deborah Berry

Akira Yoshizawa. Akira Yoshizawa of Japan is consideres the master of modern origami. Althrough he started out life as a factory worker, by 1937 he had dedicated this life to the study and further developement of origami, Yoshizawa standardized origami diagrams. The folding systems he created are used all around the world.

Although he created more than 50,000 original designs during his lifetime, only a few hundred of them were published in books.

He lived to be 94 years old and died on March 14, 2005, which happened to be his birthday.

Yuri and Katrin Shumakov. This origami-obsessed Russian couple, Yuri and Katrin Shumakov, are superstars of the paper folding world, known for their magical paper kingdoms called Oriland. They have written several origami books and instructional CDs, and their works has been displayed in many countries including the United States, Russia and Singapore.

Both Yuri and Katrin are psychologists who have studied how origami helps children learn. Their scientific recearch shows that by doing origami, kids develop better use of both hands, whether they are left- or right- handed. They also discovered that origami can improve creativity and intellegence in children ages 7 to 11.

Yuri and Katrin believe that origami is "entertaiment for the soul, gymnastics for the mind, and training for the hands."

TIMELINE / What Happened When?
by Thiranut Deborah Berry

In the timeline chart, covering period from 100 A.D. to 2000, Thiranut Deborah Berry marked the latest point as "2001 The Shumakovs create Oriland".

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