Oliver Issak

... is a dramaturg and freelance artist whose work in social design and performance art challenges traditional boundaries and activates public spaces through immersive, participatory experiences.

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Plays
  1. tonight (2025)
  2. Bogged down (2025)

Performances
  1. Until they are dead, they shall live forever (2026)
  2. The Dew Point (2025)
  3. How to Look at the Sea? (2024)
  4. Oasis (2022)
  5. Battlefield (2021)
  6. Safe Zone (2018)

Actions
  1. Monuments (2025)
  2. The Embassy of Utopia: Estonian Book 1000 (2025)
  3. The Embassy of Utopia: Radio (2023-2025)
  4. Translation Agency (2024)
  5. The Embassy of Utopia: Happiness for Everyone, Free of Charfe, and Let No One Be Forgotten (2024)
  6. The Embassy of Utopia: Longing for a Different Way of Being (2023) 
  7. The Shadow Council (2022)
  8. 33 Speeches (2021)

Dramaturgical Formats
  1. Two-Room Conference
  2. Senior Citizens' Theatre Club "Avangard"
  3. Dinner at the Dramaturg's
 
Presentations / Speeches
  1. Spatial Dimensions in Heritage | Creative Research Capacities (2026)
  2. International Conference "Dramaturgy – Mapping the Landscapes" (2025)
  3. Baltic Drama Forum (2025)
  4. Estonian Cultural Endowment's 100th Anniversary Dinner (2025)
  5. Riga Performance Art Festival "Starptelpa" | Curators' Assembly (2024)

Texts / Books / Writings
  1. Teatrielu 2025 (editor) 
  2. Artishok Biennale (critic)
  3. Värske Rõhk: How to Write Kindness? 
  4. sss
  5. Publiku kaasamise projekt 
  6. “Teatrielu 2020” (editor)

The Embassy of Utopia: 
Estonian Book 1000

(2025)



In 2025, Estonia marked 500 years since the first Estonian-language book, opening a year-long Estonian Book Year that ran from Estonian Literature Day to Mother Tongue Day. As part of its launch at Tartu University Library, the Institute of Meetings and Non-Meetings staged another chapter of its ongoing Embassy of Utopia — a space that recognizes no borders, dedicated to positive uncertainty, bold thought, and untamable imagination.

For the occasion, the Embassy took on a fitting theme: not the book's 500th anniversary, but its 1000th — inviting participants to imagine the future of the Estonian book, of Estonian-language writing, and of Estonian thought five centuries from now. The speeches given were recorded in collaboration with Klassikaraadio and shared with radio audiences throughout the Book Year.

All the speeches (in estonian) are accessable HERE.







Authors / Directors / Performers: Oliver Issak, Jan Teevet
Speeches: Arne Merilai, Ave Taavet, Berk Vaher, Contra, David Vseviov, Hanna Linda Korp, Inga Lunge, Ivika Hein, Jan Kaus, Johanna Ross, Kauksi Ülle, Krista Kaer, Lemmit Kaplinski, Lilli Luuk, Maarja Vaino, Mart Velsker, Meelis Friedenthal, Mette Mari Kaljas, Reet Hiiemäe, Saara Liis Jõerand, Talis Bachmann, Tiit Hennoste, Toomas Jürgenstein, Toomas Kiho, Tõnis Vilu
Production: Raul Markus Vaiksoo
Photos: Johanna Roos

Institute of Meetings and Non-Meetings, Klassikaraadio, 2025



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