Living warmth triumphs over digital cold – a Karelian fairy tale at the National Centre RUSSIA
On 13 December, another performance from the "Winter Wizards" festival took place at the newly opened exposition "Book of Fairy Tales" at the National Centre RUSSIA. Three fairytale winter characters from the Republic of Karelia arrived in Moscow, but they were forced to confront their own multimedia reflections, which nearly disrupted the pre-New Year magic.
Representatives of three generations of the region’s traditional winter wizards – the young and ambitious Pakkayne, the kind and good-natured Talviukko in his prime, and the grey-bearded philosopher Old Man Halla, who lights new stars in the sky with the help of a magic bell – planned to introduce young audiences to the harsh yet beautiful magic of winter Karelia. Instead, the public was first met by malicious Digital Doubles. They declared that there would be no gifts, the stars would go out, and that children would receive nothing but rudeness in response to their pre-New Year letters.
The real Pakkayne, Talviukko and Old Man Halla soon arrived after them and explained that their reflections had escaped from mirrors into the real world, driven by envy of their strength and popularity.
"My stars have grown dim because of children’s hurt feelings. But I say this openly and directly: in all my long life, I have never written a single rude word to children. These shadows, these empty shells, write in my name. They pass lies off as truth, and cold as order. They call well-behaved children hooligans, forbid them to have fun and smile, and even threaten to take back last year’s gifts. This is a great catastrophe," Old Man Halla said with pain in his heart, as his magic bell rang sadly.
The situation seemed hopeless, but the wise Firebird once again came to the rescue. She suggested an elegant solution: a reflection cannot be chased, but it can be defeated with real, living magic created with love. The tournament was announced by the Merry Mittens – helpers of Old Man Halla.
During the first challenge, Pakkayne – whose name translates from Karelian as "Little Frost" – proposed a traditional northern pastime: the game "Freeze Your Friend", using a real snowball and the Karelian greeting "Hyuvia uuttu vuottu!", meaning "Happy New Year". Meanwhile, Pakkayne’s Digital Double tried to attack the audience with virtual snowballs, which never reached their targets. "Boring, outdated, uninteresting! Why real snowballs? Why anything real at all?" he scoffed contemptuously, but his cold logic was defeated by genuine fun.
In the second challenge, Talviukko suggested baking a gingerbread man kneaded with warm memories, cinnamon and a drop of love, while his digital copy presented a soulless application which, after complex calculations, recommended that Old Man Halla give… a tea bag as a gift.
"Does my application really have no meaning? It seems I failed to account for the fact that human warmth is stronger than any mathematical calculation," Talviukko’s Double muttered in confusion as he melted away.
In the third challenge, Old Man Halla involved the audience in creating a shared greeting, while his soulless counterpart recited a faceless text generated by an algorithm: "You are hereby informed of the onset of the next calendar cycle."
In all three rounds, the audience unanimously declared the winners. With loud applause, they spoke in favour of live communication, sincere wishes and gifts made with love. The defeated doubles, meanwhile, received an inviting offer: to set aside envy and prepare for the upcoming holiday together.
The story brought by the Karelian wizards reminded both children and adults that true and lasting value has always lain not in faceless copies, but in the sensitivity of souls, the warmth of hearts and kind family traditions.
The "Winter Wizards" festival is organised by the National Centre RUSSIA with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. Theatrical performances for Moscow residents and visitors to the capital will continue until the end of December on weekends at the "Book of Fairy Tales" exposition. On Sunday, 14 December, audiences will be treated to a production based on the legend of Yaksham Atya from the Republic of Mordovia. Further performances will follow according to the schedule below:
20.12 – Theatrical performance based on the legend of Yamal Iri from the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area;
20.12 – Theatrical performance based on the legend of Sook Irey from the Republic of Tuva;
21.12 – Theatrical performance based on the legend of Ded Moroz from the Vologda region;
27.12 – Theatrical performance based on the legend of Tol Babay from the Udmurt Republic;
27.12 – Theatrical performance based on the legend of the Ryazan Ded Moroz from the Ryazan region;
28.12 – Theatrical performance based on the legend of Kysh Babay from the Republic of Tatarstan.
At the end of all performances, young guests will be invited on a tour of the exposition "Journey Across Russia". Those who listen to the entire tour and complete the quiz will receive sweet gifts.
