The special project of support of young artists of the Center for Contemporary Art WINZAVOD "START" starts a new season of 2017/2018 with a series of portfolio review​s in Moscow art and creative universities that will start from the end of April and will be held until the end of May. For the first time experts will personally meet with young artists and will select applicants for a solo exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Art WINZAVOD. Portfolio review​ will be conducted by the curator of the new season, art critic and teacher Vera Trachtenberg and project experts.

The portfolio review will be attended by School of Design HSE British Higher School of Design, MGAHI them. IN AND. Surikova, the Moscow Art Theater School and others. Experts will discuss the work of students, give comments and suggest possible ways of development for their projects. The best of the participants will be included in the START shortlist and will have the opportunity, together with the curator, to organize their first solo exhibition on the territory of the WINZAVOD CCA.

Curator of the season 2017/2018 Vera Trachtenberg: "Today we are interested in artistic processes outside the IPSI, the Institute of Contemporary Art BASE, the Rodchenko School, the School of Contemporary Art" Free Workshops" - we see the exhibitions of their graduates, they are somehow integrated into the community and Artistic system. But what do graduates of "academic" art universities do after receiving a diploma? How do they get into the space of contemporary art? We will try to answer these questions by conducting a series of portfolio-revues in various art institutions."

In the 2017/2018 season, the project aims to explore the issues and concerns that are of concern to young artists today, to find ways to interact "academic heritage" and contemporary art discourse.

President of the Foundation for Support of Contemporary Art WINZAVOD Sofya Trotsenko: "Personal exhibition is the best way for a young artist to make a statement. From the very beginning we took special care with START. For an aspiring artist, the opportunity to be where conditions allow one to freely engage in creativity sometimes plays a decisive role in the way of his self-realization. START is always a search for new topics and approaches, other points of view, and, most importantly, talented young people."

The project "START" has been supporting young artists since 2008. Since then, more than 40,000 applications have been received and more than 50 solo exhibitions by novice authors have been organized. Among the graduates of the START are such well-known artists as Evgeny Antufyev, Aslan Gaisumov, Tatyana Akhmetgalieva, Tanya Poniker, Ivan Novikov and others. In addition, the project actively develops an international direction and helps artists to get experience in art residences abroad.

Projects can be submitted for participation in a printed version or on the electronic medium of the author. There are no restrictions on the number of works from one participant.

About experts:
Sofya Trotsenko is the founder and president of the Foundation for the Support of Contemporary Art WINZAVOD, the director of the School of Design of the Institute of Social Sciences of the IAS RANHIGS.
Vera Trakhtenberg is an art critic, curator, teacher at the British Higher School of Design. Currently he works at the State Museum and Exhibition Center "ROSIZO".
Kirill Preobrazhensky is an artist, curator, teacher of the British Higher School of Design, head of the "Video art" workshop and a teacher of the course "History and practice of video art" at the Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia. A. Rodchenko.