Christmas is for family and New Year’s Eve is for getting litty with friends.

That may not ring true for some of us but arguably for most Gen Z and millennial people in the western world this is what comes to mind when we think about the antics and moods of these festive winter holidays.

Croatian visual artist Sanda Anderlon has produced collages which explore the social tradition of celebrating with generations of family members which is slowly dying out. 

By taking cutouts of grandparents, young children, and everyone in between, Sanda wanted to replicate the sort of New Year’s Eve festivities we’re sorely missing.

“From my grandfather’s experience, I know that in some nursing homes they didn’t even celebrate New Year, which saddened me and made me want to envision an ideal version. It puts things into perspective when you are surrounded by different age groups.”

Anderlon’s collages celebrate the beautiful nuance produced by a gathering that welcomes intergenerational differences. In one room, young children practice the important holiday activities of watching movies and raiding the fridge. At the same time, in another, there is a group of unfazed girls, “each doing her own chill thing as if it were a regular Sunday, but enjoying togetherness.”

The sight of such togetherness seems dated and otherworldly due the pandemic’s effects seeing as many of us all across the globe couldn’t spend new year’s eve with this many people especially elderly family members. However, this social tradition was dying out even before the pandemic. 

Anderlon adds beautiful details to the collages with some faces being swapped out for illustrations and notably the blend of modern and retro decor items which act as a microcosm for the intergenerational invite list.