Oliver Issak  | “Artists Are Present” (estonia)

Oliver Issak (b. 1996) is a Tallinn-based dramaturg and social designer whose work moves between theatre, public space, and community interventions. He studied semiotics and cultural theory at the University of Tartu and is currently completing a master’s degree in social design at the Estonian Academy of Arts. From 2020 to 2022, he worked as production dramaturg at Paide Theatre, where the relationship between art and small-town community became a central question. Since 2023, he has been one of the founders of the Institute of Meetings and Non-Meetings. 

In the school residency, young people work with utopias and imaginings of the future, using utopia as a tool for speaking about the present day. Together with students, the residency explores forms for approaching the future through imagination and dreams. From these utopias, the residency culminates in performative journeys through the school and the city.