Armenia & Georgia with Art Historian Dr. Keelan Overton ~ Monasteries, Manuscripts, Mountains, and Modernism

Covering monasteries, mountains, manuscripts, modernism, and many things in between, the itinerary offers an incredible range of art and architectural history alongside delicious cuisine, innovative luxury hotels, and stunning hospitality from Armenian and Georgian hosts. As one of SBMA’s signature custom tours, this experience includes behind-the-scenes access to museum collections and architectural sites, as well as dialogues with local experts and talks by popular SBMA study leader and art historian Dr. Keelan Overton, who researched much of this itinerary during the summer of 2019 when she spent a month in Armenia and Georgia.

The countries of Armenia and Georgia are less traveled by Americans yet still perfectly prepared to receive the most discerning, but a bit more adventurous, traveler. The itinerary will include five nights in Yerevan, Armenia; two nights in Gyumri, Armenia; one night in Dzoraget in Northern Armenia; three nights in the Old City of Tbilisi, Georgia; two nights in Kazbegi in the Greater Caucuses Mountains of Georgia; and two nights in the New City of Tbilisi, Georgia. 

To reserve space with an $1,000 per person deposit, please fill out the reservation form at the end of the brochure and email, fax, or mail it, or call 805-884-6435 to reserve by phone. Please contact travel@sbma.net with any questions. 

Tour Guide

Dr. Keelan Overton

Dr. Keelan Overton

Keelan Overton (PhD, UCLA, 2011) is a historian of Islamic art and architecture specializing in the eastern Islamic world. In 2020, she published the edited volume Iran and the Deccan: Persianate Art, Culture, and Talent in Circulation, 1400-1700 (Indiana University Press), and she is currently working on a global history of Persian tilework and curating an online exhibition on an Iranian shrine. For the last eight years, Keelan has been as an Independent Scholar based in Santa Barbara, where she divides her time between research, writing, teaching, and travel. She is currently teaching at UCLA and has also recently taught at UCSB and Pomona. Dr. Overton previously served as the Curator of Islamic Art at the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (Shangri La) in Honolulu (2011-12) and as an Associate Curator in the Art of the Middle East department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (2014-15)

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