The onset of the New Year is usually associated with the key phases of the solar cycle: the spring and
      autumn equinoxes, as well as the winter solstice. Despite the significant difference in cultural traditions
      of various regions of the world, the New Year is widely perceived as a renewal time.
      At the exhibition, visitors will learn that in China, the New Year comes on the first new moon after the
      winter solstice, i.e. in late January-early February. In modern Japan, the New Year is celebrated
      according to the Gregorian calendar. In India, to this day, there is no single date for celebrating the New
      Year. When India was a British colony, January 1 was officially considered a public holiday throughout
      India and ended the Christmas festivities.
      The exhibition presents Chinese New Year greeting cards, porcelain plates on Christmas themes, icons
      and paintings depicting scenes of Christmas, and figurines of Oriental deities. The decoration of the
      exhibition is a sculptural nativity scene made at the Charles Pillet factory in the late 19 th-early 20th
      century.
      Where: State Museum of the History of Religion at the address 14, Pochtamtskaya Street, Saint
      Petersburg.
      When: from DECEMBER 21, 2020 to JANUARY 31, 2021