THE EMAMZADEH YAHYA PROJECT: REFLECTIONS ON THE PRODUCTION AND RECEPTION OF AN INDEPENDENT MUSEOLOGICAL INITIATIVE WITH KEELAN OVERTON 

In this Research and Academic Program lecture, Keelan Overton (Independent Scholar / Clark Fellow) describes the Emamzadeh Yahya Project (est. 2021), the aim of which is to increase awareness and understanding of the Emamzadeh Yahya shrine complex and its dispersed tiles, collections, and archives worldwide, without pursuing commercial, political, or institutional objectives. The project’s key values are independence (of conception and production), collaboration (between individuals and disciplines), and accessibility (across languages, formats, and audiences). This talk provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the project’s evolution and first scholarly product: The Emamzadeh Yahya at Varamin: An Online Exhibition of an Iranian Shrine. This website is an online exhibition, exhibition catalogue, and academic edited volume all in one and features the work of over forty participants. Overton shares how the EYV Project’s values, goals, and methods were identified and why it has sought to chart some alternative paths in research, museology, and publishing. She also considers the website’s reception since its launch in January 2025, and some of its final features, including participatory initiatives.

Presented in person in the Clark auditorium. A 5 pm reception in the Manton Research Center reading room precedes the event.

Image: Entrance of the Emamzadeh Yahya complex at Varamin, Iran, March 2024. Photo: Maryam Rafeienezhad.