September 29 is the birthday of Liubov Ivanovna Kriakina, Chief Conservator at the IOM RAS.

After graduating in 1983 from the Vladimir Serov Leningrad Art School (now the Nicholas Roerich Saint Petersburg Art School) as an interior designer, she worked in the Youth Movie Theatre at the Palace of Culture and Technology as designer and painter. From 1987 to 1989, she was a conservator at the Library of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Since 1989 Liubov Kriakina has been working at the IOM RAS. She is an internationally recognized expert specializing on restoration of unique manuscripts written on paper.

Liubov Kriakina has always been eager to learn and develop her professional skills. In 1995, she graduated from the Department of Theory and History of Arts of the Ilya Repin Saint-Petersburg State Academic Institute of Fine Arts, Sculpture and Architecture of the Russian Academy of Arts, successfully defending her project “Decorative ornamental design of Muslim manuscripts of the 16th–17th centuries [Декоративно-орнаментальное оформление мусульманской рукописной книги XVI-XVII вв.]. In 2000, she took a training course at the Tokyo National Research Institute of Cultural Properties as part of the international ICCROM project “Japanese Paper Conservation”. She has also participated in more than a dozen of restoration projects supported by known Russian and foreign foundations (the Foundation of St Petersburg's Revival, Korеa Foundation, Japan Foundation, International Dunhuang Project).

Thousands of Oriental manuscripts have passed through her skillful hands. Some manuscripts restored by L. Kriakina were exhibited in the museums of Russia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Japan, Taiwan, USA.

Liubov Kriakina has developed a number of techniques for restoration of Oriental paper. She generously shared her knowledge and experience with colleagues by publishing articles on issues of restoration and art history, supervising younger specialists, and holding workshops and master classes.

In addition to restoration work, she participates in the activities of the Petrovsky Society of Historians of Paper and the International Dunhuang Project. She gives presentations at international conferences and seminars.

Liubov Kriakina is deeply respected by colleagues and friends as an outstanding expert and a very considerate and sympathetic person.

Everyone at the IOM RAS congratulates Liubov Kriakina on her anniversary and wishes her good health and success in all current and future projects.

Irina F. Popova, Director of the IOM RAS
Corresponding Member of the RAS, Doctor of Sciences in History