Biography - Ayder Asanov

About master

Ayder Asanov was born on November 6, 1928, in the family of a jeweler usta Abdulmein Asan ogly and a representative of the ancient Bakhchisarai family of filigree artists Tenzile Shaban kyzy. The family lived in the city of Bakhchisarai in the Quyumci maale jewelers' quarter, where the traditions of the Crimean Tatar filigree had been preserved since the time of the khanate.

At a young age, the master worked as an apprentice in filigree workshops, studying techniques and traditions. Knowledge about the craft was passed down from generation to generation; the history of Ayder Asanov's family can be traced back to usta Abdureim Amza ogly, whose father was a filigree master under the last khan, Shahin Geray. Among other representatives of their family were also some laureates of international exhibitions in Paris: usta-bashi Zekerya Ibrahim ogly, usta Bakhtish Bakhshishev (1925) and usta aji Umer Khalil ogly (1910).

Between 1940 and 1944, Ayder Asanov studied the craft of the Crimean Tatar filigree from his skillful father - usta Abdulmein Asan ogly and then from usta-bashi Zekerya Ibrahim ogly.

In 1944, after the deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea by the Stalinist regime, he and his family ended up in Uzbekistan, Golodnaya Steppe station. A few years later, having received permission from the authorities because of the status "a special settler", he moved with his parents to Tashkent. During this period, together with his father - usta Abdulmein, he did the traditional type of Crimean Tatar painting - levkha. In 1947, having received permission, he entered the Republican Art School named after Benkov, the Department of Painting. Having studied there well for two years, he was forced to leave school due to a difficult family situation.

In 1952 Ayder Asanov graduated from Tashkent Electromechanical College and went to work at the plant. In 1960 he moved to Gulistan and worked at the repair mechanical plant. In addition, he was invited to Crimean Tatar weddings as a musician, since he played several musical instruments and knew folklore. For more than 10 years, Ayder Asanov performed together with young musicians at Crimean Tatar weddings, playing the daf, violin and trumpet.

From the late 1960s to 1990, he was the head of the foundry at the repair mechanical plant in Gulistan.

In 1990 he retired and moved to Crimea. A few years later, he learned that among all 25 Quyumci maale masters, only he survived. Recalling the knowledge acquired in his youth, he decided to return to his family's craft more than 50 years later.

In 1999, with the support of the Turkish Foundation TIKA and the head of the society "Renaissance of Crimea" Lutfi Osmanov, he opened a workshop in the city of Bakhchisarai to revive the Crimean Tatar filigree and teach the young. Ayder Asanov's workshop became part of craft studios "USTA", where the masters of ceramics and embroidery worked, and Crimean Tatar theater was revived.

Based on his own memories, Ayder Asanov restored the lost filigree technique, tools; he started to create an exhibition collection of traditional jewelry. Already in 2003, Crimean Ethnographic Museum hosted the first in almost 100 years exhibition of the Crimean Tatar filigree, where usta Ayder Asanov’s works and those of his students were presented. Within the exhibition, for the first time since 1913, an old rite of initiation of students into masters - revan - was held.

In 2004 the master took part in the exhibition JEWELER KYIV INTERNATIONAL, where he won the third prize and was honored with the award "For the preservation of traditions". Together with Crimean artisans and the "Crimean Style" project, he took an active part in exhibitions in Ukraine, as well as in international exhibitions in Poland, Turkey, Russia and other countries. The master researched the museum and private collections of the Crimean Tatar filigree and was engaged in the restoration of old samples.

In 2005 there were many who wanted to learn the ancient craft, and Ayder Asanov accepted about 10 new students for training. In addition to traditional jewelry, the master, together with the group of the first graduates, began to make original products using the Crimean Tatar jewelry ornament. Craft studios "USTA" have become the center of the cultural development of Crimea.

In 2009 Ayder Asanov was awarded the title of Honored Master of Folk Art of Ukraine. Later, in the same year, he became a laureate of the Prize of Maria Primachenko.

The Crimean Tatar culture was at the stage of its development when many families who had lost their family heirlooms turned to the master to commission ancient types of wedding decorations. During this period, Ayder Asanov also actively worked on the creation of a collection of author's products. They were presented at the master's personal exhibitions dedicated to his 80th birthday.

In 2013 he founded his own workshop "MIRAS" (i.e. Heritage), which continued the tradition of Quyumci maale. The workshop is engaged in making reconstructions and copies of old Crimean Tatar jewelry, its restoration, and production of original jewelry based on the Crimean Tatar jewelry ornament.

In 2017, in the MIRAS workshop, Ayder Asanov created a research initiative to study and revive the history of the Crimean Tatar filigree. On the occasion of the master’s 90th anniversary, at a personal exhibition in Crimean Tatar Museum in Simferopol, a large collection of works of his authorship and products of his students, as well as traditional jewelry made in the workshop, was presented.

The master's works are kept in the collections of museums: the Crimean Tatar Museum of Cultural and Historical Heritage in Simferopol, the Russian Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg, Art Museum in Tabriz (Iran).

Also, the author's works can be found in private collections in such countries as USA, Ukraine, Russia, Australia, Japan, Poland, China, Belarus, Lithuania, France, Italy, Spain, Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, and many others.