THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS IN RUSSIA!
ABOUT THE PROJECT
An immersive exhibition in Kolomenskoye
An immersive exhibition devoted to Russian Christmas traditions was held in Kolomenskoye from December 15, 2018 to January 15, 2019.

We developed a semantic and architectural concept of the exhibition, created interactive installations and technical setups, developed the content, set up and put into operation all the equipment.
  • 5000 sq. m
    is a total area of the pavilions
  • 36
    multimedia installations
MAP OF THE EXHIBITION
The exhibition consisted of five theme-based pavilions. Being inside, the visitors found themselves in the atmosphere of Christmas preparations and celebration
  • 5
    theme-based zones
PAVILION 1
BOISTEROUS CHRISTMAS FAIR
In this pavilion, the visitors were wrapped in the atmosphere of a Christmas fair – noisy interactive merchants, holographic traditional guisers, sleighing down a virtual hill, and a photo.
  • 12
    interactive stalls
  • 2
    exciting sled tours
CHRISTMAS FAIR MARKET STALLS
In the middle of the exposition, there are 12 interactive stalls with charismatic merchants
We wrote scripts, selected stories and authentic merchandise, filmed scripted scenes, and developed interactive mechanics. This allowed the visitors to interact with the characters and learn about the merchandise in virtual stalls.

For a shopkeeper to tell you about his products, you need to tap on it using the interactive panel.
  • 6
    characters
  • 12
    unique products
THE FAIR
Genre scenes helped to create a busy atmosphere. The main characters of the scenes were a gypsy fortune-teller, skomorokhs, a merchant, and a puller-in
The stories were projected on a holographic grid hidden behind the decoration.
  • 4
    holographic stories
  • 9
    memorable characters
SLEIGHING
Along the perimeter of the exposition, the visitors could enjoy traditional winter activities such as sleighing
We developed a dynamic winter trail with thrilling twists and turns and used real sleds. A large projection screen created the feeling of a real ride. During the ride, interesting facts about the traditional Christmas activities appeared on the screen.
PHOTOMECHANICS
A souvenir to remind the visitors of the exhibition – an animated photo of a ride with a winter landscape
The visitors were sitting in a real sleigh with a chromakey in the background and they could see themselves in a real time dynamic Christmas scene.

After the ride, the video was sent to e-mail. The video was short to make it easier to upload it to social networks.

  • Vivid memorable photos
  • Augmented reality
PAVILION 2
A VILLAGE ROAD
This pavilion was styled as a village road with wooden Russian izba houses. With the help of holography, we were able to recreate stories about how people prepared to celebrate Christmas in the past.
  • 4
    stories about preparation for Christmas
  • 20
    hours of shooting
HOLOGRAPHIC IZBA HOUSES
There is life behind the shutters
In each izba a different holographic story unfolds - festive table setting, decorating the house, singing carols, and lullabies.

All the characters are dressed in traditional costumes and in the scenes we also used real decorations.
PROJECTION
PROJECTION SCREEN
A projection of a snowy street where carol singers are running between izba houses adds to the Christmas atmosphere.
PAVILION 3
TSAR’S BALL
The visitors are invited to the traditional Russian ball. Loud music, holographic dancers, spectacular changing of clothes, and stunning decorations contributed to a full immersion into the epoch.
  • 3 min
    immersive show
  • year 1903
    a journey to the Tsar’s ball
CHOREOGRAPHY
The visitors witness several epochs
The dancers spectacularly changed their outfits demonstrating the traditions of balls - masquerade, a merry Tampete dance, and waltz.

We wrote a script and developed choreography to immerse the visitors in the atmosphere just in a few minutes. We also wrote the music to bring different styles together. We filmed all the videos and added special effects and voice acting.
  • 4
    different dances
  • 14
    professional dancers
PAVILION 4
ART IN EVERY HOUSE
The pavilion consisted of two parts bringing together two opposing traditions. On one hand, visitors learned about creating nativity scenes using various materials. On the other hand, they learned about mysterious fortune-telling.

  • Magical fortune-telling
  • Stories about traditional preparations for Christmas
GRAND NATIVITY SCENE
Nativity scene is a long-standing Christmas tradition. This is the exhibition representing the birth of Jesus
A general traditional story was projected onto a three-dimensional model. Using mapping effects, sound design, and voice acting, we showed not only the story but also the variety of materials people used to make a Nativity scene.
SMALL NATIVITY SCENES
Multimedia transparent display windows, located along the perimeter of the hall, demonstrated short stories about the birth of Jesus
The transparent screen demonstrated animated stories adding to the models located inside.
  • 4
    stories about the birth of Jesus
EAVESDROPPING
This installation is made as windows and behind the windows the visitors can see some shadows
Through the speakers, the visitors could hear some fragments of conversations between people predicting the weather for a year.
FORTUNE-TELLING
On interactive panels, the visitors can choose one of 4 fortune-tellings
  • 4
    types of fortune-telling
  • 6
    interactive panels
PROJECTION PERFORMANCE
NEW YEAR FANTASY
In this pavilion, the visitors were welcomed by a bright projection show with the scenes from the most famous Christmas story ‘The Nutcracker’.

  • Stunning New Year projection stories
  • Fight with the Mouse King

Dynamic stories were projected onto 3D structures using mapping effects. 3D New Year toys, candlesticks and entire cities appeared on the cubes.

We managed to show the whole Nutcracker story only in a shorter form. The audience felt empathy for the spellbound prince, and background music and voice acting added to the effect.
  • 7
    New Year sceneries
PARTICIPANTS OF THE PROJECT
Client Government of Moscow Agency Economoton Production / technical setups by VIZHU

Account director Ilya Faizov General producer Mikhail Lykov Producer (multimedia and content) Regina Porshneva Producer (architecture and decorations) Darya Yushkina Technical director Anatoly Yuntsevich Art director Petr Mishin Designers Evgeny Berezin, Svetlana Didenko Artist Natalya Naumova Motion designers Yury Ulchenko, Stanislav Guk, Maksim Sviridov, Erik Nefedov Programmers Maksim Fomin, Fyodor Lesnov Engineers Semyon Onishchenko, Ivan Chumanov, Pavel Remnev Assistant manager Denis Kalensky Scriptwriter Gleb Rusnovsky Director Aleksey Bochenin Shoot producer Ivan Shestakov, Maksim Malay
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