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About the Author

Elena Neva, Ph.D. Art Historian. Guest lecturer at Columbia and Harvard University.

Experience:

• Boston School of Modern Languages
• Bunker Hill Community College
• PAX coordinator. Program of Academic Exchange
• Boston Center for Adult Education
• Haifa University, Israel, Department of Archaeology
• Tajik Academy of Sciences, Department of Art History          

Education:

• Institute of Art, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Ph.D. in Art History
• Moscow State University, Russia, BA/MA in History and Art History, Cum Laude    
• Dushanbe College of Music, Tajikistan, BA in Music theory, history & composition

About the book

It was early 2008 that I founded Kunstpedia.com, an online knowledge base with articles and essays on the fine and decorative arts. The knowledge base was not established to compete with treasured publications, as you have in your hands now, but more to expose the general public to information on fine and interesting art in all its forms that have been produced by mankind throughout the centuries.

One of the first and most devoted contributors was Dr. Elena Neva, who has posted numerous articles that have stimulated the readers’ interest.

For centuries, jewelry has played an important role in expressing ones religious, social or financial status. Extensive academic research has been done to understand the artistic expressions of jewelry. From an art historical perspective, surprisingly enough, little to no research has ever been undertaken with regard to the ancient jewelry of Central Asia.

Fully dedicated to revealing the history of the ancient jewelry of Central Asia, Dr. Elena Neva has managed to compile a sound historical overview on ancient jewelry of this region. She reveals the different artistic features, symbols, types, forms and technical aspects of the ancient jewelry of Central Asia, ranging from the medieval period to the present time.

Elena Neva’s ground-breaking work will undoubtedly be an important aid to both the academically interested and to museums and collectors. I am also convinced that this book would widen the appeal of those generally interested in ancient jewelry.

Boudewijn Meijer,
Netherlands

About the book — Reviews, Opinions

The Marvel of Interpretation

Thanks to marketing firms and modern life itself, the art of jewelry has been shrouded with a veil so attractive and so mysterious that we tend to overlook the true essence of jewelry and its correlation to the history of mankind.
  
In her research, Elena Neva makes a monumental effort to save us from being trapped by clichés and introduce us to the true beauty disguised as common household matter.
Elena Neva has a right for this consecration – in her veins, ancient Persian roots are deeply entwined with thriving branches of diverse cultures and religions.

Elena Neva is a highly professional art critic, with a degree from Lomonosov Moscow State University, where fundamental studies of the traditional art of the East have been performed for over a hundred years. Elena is a professional musician, an expert on celestial harmony. She is a talented teacher of Russian language, skillful in bestowing the gift of poetry to her students. Last, but not least, she is a wonderful mother raising her children in the atmosphere of genuine art appreciation. 

The book you are holding in your hands will make you see the art of Eastern jewelry as the synthesis of philosophy, sophisticated esthetics, ancient magic and unconditional love.

Elena Neva, herself a synthesis of fine arts, excels in this complex inter-disciplinary research. Her profound and at the same time seemingly effortless narrative opens the soul of the ancient jewelry of Central Asia to her readers, as if they were speaking to us in their own language.

Yu. A. Godovanetz, Ph.D.
Vice President - Center of Preservation of Cultural Values
Head of the Department of Retrieval and Restitution of Cultural Values
Federal Service: Surveillance and Compliance of Cultural Heritage

 

Excerpts from the book

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