We are looking for two writers at any career stage and from anywhere in the world whose texts on contemporary art exercise critical empathy, navigating the balance between care and critique, the interrogative and intuitive, the perceptive and imaginative, and engaging through dialogue to deepen understanding.

Art writers today are compelled to attend to the range of human experiences, navigating the familiar and unfamiliar, idiosyncratic and interconnected, coherent and contradictory. Within our contemporary cultural landscape, it is imperative that critics value nuance and interpersonal understanding in equal measure with intellectual precision.

Established in 2022, Artlab Editorial, an initiative by Hyundai Artlab, has witnessed firsthand how platforms for critical art writing are essential to a thriving global art ecosystem. As part of our ambition to spark meaningful dialogue, cultivate empathy, and facilitate collaborations, we are looking to support two art writers whose texts on contemporary art exercise critical empathy. These writers should navigate the balance between care and critique, the interrogative and intuitive, the perceptive and imaginative, and engage through dialogue to deepen understanding.

This Fellowship is open to art writers from anywhere in the world and at any career stage. The two selected Fellows will each receive $10,000 to produce three pieces of writing every other month for Artlab Editorial in 2026 and will be paired with one of this year’s Fellowship Advisors, Mira Dayal and Gary Zhexi Zhang, for regular one-on-one guidance and mentorship throughout the program.

Fellowship Structure

The Fellowship is designed to produce a vibrant body of new contemporary art writing and foster global connections between writers, readers, and artists. With guidance from Artlab’s Editors and Advisors, Fellows will write three pieces of web-based editorial content for publication on Artlab Editorial.

Fellows will be committing to writing one 800-word article in English every other month, for publication on Artlab Editorial from May through December of 2026. They will be expected to develop each article over the course of eight weeks, meeting with their Advisor for in-depth development sessions, and working closely with Artlab Editorial’s Editor via monthly touch-bases.