Yaro Zabavskiy

Yaro Zabavskiy is a practicing artist, a teacher of Visual Arts and the Head of the Arts Department at United World College Dilijan. Although he is originally from Moscow, Russia, his curiosity and passion for the Arts have led to a journey that took him to places all around the world. Yaro fell in love with photography when he was studying at UWC Atlantic College in Wales, UK. After that he went on to study studio (applied) Arts at Earlham College in Indiana, USA where he has discovered a passion for ceramics as well as honed his skills in analog photography. Ceramics and photography are the two areas of art-making that became the twin guiding lights in Yaro’s life, allowing him to combine creative expression, traveling and meeting new people.

Yaro’s desire to share the excitement of the creative process with other people led to the start of his teaching career at the British School of Art and Design in Moscow, one of Russia’s main centers for international education in the field of Art and Design. A couple of years later the opportunity to begin work at UWC Dilijan arose and he moved with wife to Armenia, where they have been living happily since 2016. Their son Grigoriy was born in Yerevan the following year, making the connection to this country even more special. Over the five years Yaro has developed a profound love for the people of Armenia and its rich culture.

As part of his teaching career at UWC Dilijan Yaro has taught several generations of students, including very talented young Armenian men and women, many of whom have decided to continue studying Art & Design at universities across Europe and the USA.

In his art making practice Yaro is looking for balance between control and letting go, he values the beauty of accidents and reflects on the beauty of his surroundings created through the forces of nature. Yaro’s work in ceramics and photography has been exhibited internationally at galleries in the USA, the UK, Russia and Armenia.