"The story of the New Year’s toy" Automatic translate

From December 21 to January 13, the Gilyarovsky Center, a branch of the Museum of Moscow, will host an exhibition-journey through the 20th century, an exhibition-study, an exhibition-holiday "The history of the New Year’s toy." Indeed, in the decoration of Christmas trees and their very existence, all important events and changes in our country, the life and worldview of its citizens were reflected.

For us, the Christmas tree is more than just an attribute of the holiday. She creates an atmosphere and mood, awakens imagination and nostalgia, stands in the center of a children’s dance, hides gifts. But the history of the Christmas tree in Russia is like an adventure novel, full of passions, intrigues, unexpected twists, almost death and rebirth again.

The exhibition, dedicated to the history of the Christmas tree and New Year’s toy, was created on the basis of the meeting of the Moscow collector Alexei Kuznetsov and is similar to a time travel. Guests will visit six reconstructed Christmas trees of different periods: pre-revolutionary time, the turn of the 1930s and 40s, 50s and 60s, 70s and 80s, 90s and, finally, they will meet with today’s Christmas tree 21st century.

For more than a century, apples, lambs, bells were replaced by squirrels, hedgehogs and samovars, among the toys appeared soldiers of the Red Army, conquerors of the Far North, airships and cars, characters in fairy tales of Pushkin, skates and hoops, corn and space satellites. At some point, a variety of toys suddenly turned into mysterious monotonous abstractions in which it is impossible to guess whether it is a flashlight or a lump, a snow maiden or a snowman. Later, these abstractions replaced the faceless Chinese balls and icicles. And what does the Christmas tree say about our time?

Exhibition opening: December 21 at 18.30. Free admission.