Application deadline May 8, 2026
New York NY
United States
The Backslash Fellowship is a 50,000 USD fellowship that supports an established practicing artist to create a significant new work of art that engages bleeding-edge digital research and technology. This fellowship provides sustained teamwork with a committed, technical collaborator to enable deep exploration of new artistic forms, expressions and features, and inspire lasting transformation of the artist’s practice.
Backslash at Cornell Tech is Cornell University’s initiative for art that escapes convention. Backslash supports artists whose practices are nonlinear, unexpected, adventurous, questionable, and primed for engagement with new technologies—all symptoms of being “backslash.” Since its founding in 2016, Backslash has awarded over 500,000 USD in grants to fund new work by practicing artists. Previous recipients include Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Miao Ying, Jen Liu, and Mimi Ọnụọha. Backslash artworks have been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Taipei Biennial, Vienna Seccession SculptureCenter, Asia Culture Center, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Okayama Art Summit, Museum of the City of New York, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, and Orlando Museum of Art.
Backslash takes its name from the \ (backslash) “escape” character in computer programming, used to indicate that whatever comes after the \ should be interpreted outside the normal mode of input and output to do something special. In this spirit, the Backslash Fellowship recognizes artists working to escape convention in their practices.
