......... The Laboratory of Art Criticism (in cooperation with the BAZA institute) is a project of the Winzavod Fund for the support of Contemporary Art, initiated as part of a new development concept and part of the Winzavod. Education project.

......... The activity of the Laboratory of Art Criticism is aimed at supporting and developing the school of aesthetic critical thinking in the information space.

......... The "Laboratory" combines theory and practice, providing participants with the opportunity to communicate directly with experts and at the same time develop their knowledge. To publish materials and support students, the Contemporary Art Support Foundation of Winzavod launched a special online platform.

......... President of the Contemporary Art Support Foundation Winzavod Sofia Trotsenko:
Today, projects of Winzavod are aimed at the development of educational technologies: we would like to become a place where they not only watch, but think and speak. We are launching the Journalism Lab and the Laboratory of Art Criticism due to the obvious lack of new names in this field and our interest in supporting professional approaches to art. Contemporary art itself is able to suggest ways of communication to the participants, and the invited media experts, curators and art critics will support the beginners in their practical part.

......... The educational program of the "Laboratory of Art Criticism" is divided into three trimester, the duration of study is one year.

......... The curriculum includes weekly theoretical and practical classes (three times a week), as well as the publication of a printed Bulletin - a new periodical on art, criticism and theory.

......... Since the launch of the Art Critics Lab, three major conferences have been held to introduce the ideas of the participants to the public. These conferences also resulted in the publication of two Bulletins, which provide tangible evidence of the work of laboratory technicians and their mentors. Among the interesting projects of the first set of participants there is a special project on reviewing exhibitions held in the galleries of Winzavod.

......... The expert board includes leading specialists in the field of mass media, art historians, theorists and curators:

Boris Klyushnikov (b. 1989) is a theorist of contemporary art, critic, a teacher of the Department of Cinema and Contemporary art at the Russian State University for the Humanities, the BAZA institute, the Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia. Author of articles on the philosophy of art, critical texts and lectures on the theory of modern art.

Konstantin Bokhorov (b. 1961) is an art historian, a researcher of artistic performance and new media, curator of the Center for Contemporary Culture MediaArtLab, a member of the Moscow Union of Artists and AICA, a candidate of cultural studies. Graduated from the St. Petersburg I. E. Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in the specialty "Art". Author of articles in the Art Journal and other publications, lectured at the Institute of Contemporary Art Problems (Moscow), Ural State University (Yekaterinburg), the Pro Arte Institute (St. Petersburg), and others.

Yegor Sofronov (b. 1989) - art critic. Editor at the "Art magazine". Published in online platform aroundart.org, in the "Disagreement" magazine, "Art of Cinema" magazine, "Art Magazine" and other publications. Lecturer at the BAZA Institute. He was born in 1989 in Yakutsk. He graduated from the magistracy in art criticism and literature at the School of Fine Arts (New York, USA) in 2014. In 2015–2017, a researcher in the "Field Research" program of the exhibition section of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art. Co-founder of the "Union of Convalescent" interdisciplinary group.

Anatoly Osmolovsky (b. 1969) - artist, curator, art theorist, editor-in-chief of "Baza" magazine. Founder and Rector of the BAZA Institute. From 1987 to 1988 - member of the literary group "Vertep", 1988-1990 - member of the literary-critical group "Ministry of Missile Defense of the USSR", 1990-92 - leader of the E.A.T. (Expropriation of Art Territories) movement, since 1993 - editor of the Radek magazine, 1993-1994 - Coordinator of the Neceziudik revolutionary program, 1995 - Fellow of the Senate of Berlin and Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, 2007 - Kandinsky Prize winner in the nomination "Artist of the Year".

......... The project is implemented with the support of Theory and Practice.