We chose The Old New Year as a theme for this year’s stand. “The Old New Year” was created from the transition from the Julian to Gregorian calendar system after the October Revolution and is a holiday that occurs from the 13th to the 14th of January. This celebration is an oxymoron—it captures an ancient era yet signifies new beginnings. In Slavic tradition, New Year symbolizes the opening of gates to eternity and possesses magical connotations. It is customary to set a delicious table, tell fortunes, and forget old woes. Nature and dreams gain special meaning during this time. It is said that during the nighttime, dark forces come into play and must be banished with candles. There are many national beliefs connected to this Orthodox celebration—the future can be told, seen, and felt. The “New Year” phenomenon is tied to our culture and doesn’t lose its momentum today. We find ourselves in a time loop once again, when the promise of the future is intrinsically tied with the past. In this sense, the “Old New Year” is a unique footprint of contemporary times, simultaneously existing outside and inside the realms of “now.” Even though “The Old New Year” is a celebration full of traditions and beliefs from ancient days, the celebration is turned toward the future. This creates a contradiction and an eternal countdown. The artwork exhibited at our stand is a meditation on time—the past and future.

The szena team hand-picked and chose our authors’ more recent works to exhibit in this year’s catalog and will showcase them at stand number 1.9. Our curators picked Igor Samolets’ “New Year’s Tree.” Igor’s work will be in conversation with Nickolai Bakharev’s “Feast,” 1989. Anastasia Rybakova’s new work will highlight this year’s theme of “exuberant feasts” and indulgence, and Kirill Garshin’s work will support our “Old New Year” theme with a figurative exploration of a friendly gathering at a celebratory dinner. Daniil Vasiliev is a new author at the szena gallery. He will showcase fantastical landscapes filled with mysticism, referring to the holiday’s older traditions.