Zach Blas Joins EKA as T4EU Visiting Professor
About
Artist, writer, and filmmaker Zach Blas joined Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) as a visiting professor in May, leading seminars and workshops for the Faculty of Fine Arts and the doctoral school. The residency was organised within the framework of the Transform4Europe alliance in collaboration with Vytautas Magnus University and took place both in Tallinn and Kaunas.
During his time at EKA, Blas led seminars and workshops for students, doctoral candidates, and faculty members of the Faculty of Fine Arts and the doctoral school.
Taavi Varm, PhD student and Junior Researcher at EKA’s Faculty of Fine Arts, notes: “Zach is an artist, writer and educator in whom critical depth, artistic sharpness and human generosity meet. Throughout the seminar it was clear that he had not come simply to share his knowledge, but to genuinely encounter us and think alongside us. His work moves on the borderline of speculative fiction and foresight, surfacing questions whose real weight often reaches society only later. The opportunity to meet him and exchange ideas felt like an answer from a future we had not yet learned to ask about.”
Reflecting on his time at EKA, Blas highlighted the importance of exchange and collaboration within international academic environments: “I think the important thing about exchanges like this is being open to the possibilities they create. Of course, I get to share my knowledge and expertise with students, but I’m also learning from them and absorbing their perspectives as well. At a time when international exchange feels increasingly important, these kinds of collaborations create valuable opportunities for dialogue across different contexts.”
Zach Blas (b. 1981) is an artist, writer, and filmmaker whose practice contends with computational technologies, their industries, and the powers that constitute and animate them. His work has been presented internationally, including at the Whitney Biennial, the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, and the Gwangju Biennale.
More about Zach Blas
Read more about Zach Blas’s residency at EKA
