Behind high walls and surrounded by a dark moat of water, the mysterious "town within a city" of New Holland has fascinated residents and visitors since it was built in the centre of St. Petersburg 300 years ago.
Peter the Great founded New Holland in the 1720s and named it after his sojourn in the Netherlands learning the art of shipbuilding. It is an island formed by the Moika, Kryukov, and Admiralteisky Canals. It was used to store and dry lumber for the state-of-the-art navy Peter was building for the Russian Empire. Later it was used as a testing-centre for the Navy. The huge site soon became a small town of oddly-shaped buildings and strange pools and tanks of water.
New Holland occupies the central area of the city most closely associated with Peter: near to the Bronze Horseman, and close to the magnificent Admiralty building with its golden spire. Throughout the Czarist Empire and Soviet Union, New Holland remained a closed, secretive place known only to the navy.
By the 1970s it was no longer used for testing, only for naval offices. Now, with the re-emergence of St. Petersburg as a vibrant, innovative arts-oriented city, the fabulous structure of New Holland will open its doors to the public for only the second time in its history.
On 27th July 2003, on the national holiday of Navy Day, the nearby Neva River and Baltic harbour will host a display of modern and historic ships. This year's Navy Day is special, as 2003 is the 300th anniversary of the founding of St Petersburg - the city that was created as Russia's maritime passage to the wider world.
For that day only, New Holland will invite the public inside, to experience an exhibition of entirely site-specific art works including video, sound, interactive art, installation, live performance and more. The whole accessible area of New Holland will be used: inside and outside, dry land and water, roof and ground. The public will be guided through the exhibition, having the unique experience of being able to enjoy not only the art works, but also the revelations of the site itself, and the interplay between them.
The organisers of the exhibition suggest that New Holland is one of the most fascinating architectural sites in Europe and that its locus as a place for art is unique to this event.
Sponsorship opportunities are now available in connection with the exhibition.
Contact: Sandrine Albert. Tel.: 0044 (0) 2079232176. Other contact details in our
New Holland 2003 is an international collaborative project organised by St. Petersburg artist and curator Oleg Yanushevsky and London-based, site-specific art group Luna Nera.