Creative workshop

Creative New Year workshops at the Museum of Optics are where magic meets science. During a single session, you can make up to three toys, themed around the New Year celebrations or optical technologies.

The workshops will be entretaining for both kids and adults. Depending on the one you choose, you’ll get an opportunity to make a New Year lantern, a disappearing picture, a flip-picture that changes its image depending on the viewing angle, a flextangle (paper caledoscope), or a thaumatrope (a toy where two images blend into one when you spin them). The workshops take two hours ane are led by a teacher who will help you with your project  and you’ll get to take your creations home with you.

For whom: kids over 5 years old and their parents. Up to 15 people can take part in a single workshop.

Getting there: the workshops will take place at the Museum of Optics on Birzhevaya Liniya 14 on January 3-11 (except for January 5 which is a day off). Every workshop lasts for two hours, you can see the schedule on the museum’s website (in Russian). The tickets are 200 rubles and can be bought at the museum.
 
 
We all hail from our childhood exhibition

The exhibition’s curators drew inspiration from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s famous quote: “We are of our childhood as we are from a country,” and created a place where one can return to experience the sensation of nostalgia. The We all hail from our childhood exhibition focuses on Christmas tree ornaments and garlands of the Soviet era, including the pre-war ones. Visitors will learn how the tradition to decorate the tree came to be, how the materials and shape of ornaments changed over time, how garlands emitted light before LEDs were invented, and what kinds of decorations were popular at different periods of Soviet history.

You will also be able to see several historical exhibits, for example the first Soviet garland ЁГ-1 dating to 1938, collections of themed ornaments from 1950s dedicated to Russian poet Aleksander Pushkin’s 150-s anniversary of birth, and those inspired by fairy tales of French poet Charles Perrault, and a cosmonaut figurine inspired by Yuri Gagarin’s 1961’s flight to space.

For whom: anyone is welcome!

Getting there: the We all hail from our childhood exhibition will take place until February, its price being part of the cost of the entrance ticket to the museum. You can see the schedule of tours on the museum’s website (in Russian).

Permanent exhibition

Over 10 halls of ITMO’s Museum of Optics tell about the history of optical phenomena and devices, and help peek into the future of optical technologies. For example, you can learn how holography operates and holograms are created, and see the famous hologram “Bust of Alexander Pushkin” recorded at the Vavilov State Optical Institute in 1984 using the method of Yuri Denisyuk, a celebrated physicist and one of the founders of optical holography in Russia.

You can also learn about phenakistiscopes and praxinoscopes and how they were used to entertain children, how they were replaced by photography and 3D movies, why all glass is different and how messages are sent at the speed of light using optical fibre. 

For whom: Museum of Optics’ permanent exhibition will be interesting to all age groups.

Getting there: in 2026, the museum will start working on January 3 (with the exception of Friday, January 5). The tours last for an hour, you can see the schedule of tours on the museum’s website (in Russian). Tickets are available at the museum, you will need an entrance ticket (350-400 rubles) and a tour ticket (200 rubles).