One big family: Onassis, ONX and the intersection of culture, technology and art

The Onassis Foundation has a big mission: to be a catalyst and embrace constant innovation and creative disruptions that will lead to a better society. And while this is a tall mission for any cultural organization, for the past 50 years, Onassis has formed a constellation of programmes and initiatives to nurture, inspire and challenge thinkers and makers to work and experiment in every art sector. And this investment in people and artists has also paid off in the new media industry – nearly every immersive festival or programme these days has at least one piece emerging from Onassis’ orbit.

Cover: Graham Sack @ With All Due Respect: Onassis ONX Summer Showcase

At the forefront of this vision is Afroditi Panagiotakou, Artistic Director of Onassis Stegi, whose bold creativity and willingness to take risks has set the stage for treating the digital not just as technology but as a medium for storytelling, connection and change; and it’s guided by the strategic clarity and leadership of Executive Director Dimitri Theodoropoulos. Alongside Onassis Stegi, the dynamic space for cultural creativity, the foundation’s stream dedicated towards technology began in 2017 with the opening of the Digital Innovation department. To map the work of Onassis is less like a family tree and more like a bush, with one branch growing into or around another. But several things unite all the strands – the desire to experiment at the intersection of art and technology, and the priority of feeding into and building an ecosystem that serves the artist from idea to exhibition; an integrated space to learn, make and grow.

Within the cosmos of the digital and innovation work are several programmes and spaces based in Athens, Greece and New York, USA, serving both Greek and international artists. “We are interested in artists’ ideas, not their ID,” explains Panagiotakou. The ONX summer school, which just wrapped, brings together creative professionals, students and businesses to explore technology, culture and worldbuilding. Onassis Ready art space, which plans to open in Fall 2025, will serve as a factory of ideas, the home of Onassis ONX and AIR, as well as a performance and exhibition space.

This development cluster overall is indeed people-centric, maybe seemingly contributing less to commissioning pieces…and more happening in the ‘in-between’ space in the background. What that means on a day-to-day basis is a lot of supporting the artists to build a sustainable practice, whether through mentoring, seed grants towards a specific milestone – to develop a prototype or small exhibition, learning environments and space to experiment.

Heracles Papatheodorou, Digital and Development Manager at the Onassis Foundation

Building on the energy of an emerging artistic boom in Athens, Onassis’ programmes feed back into the community. Plasmata, its outdoor digital media festival curated by Panagiotakou with 30 works in a public park, brought over a half million people. The park got upgraded for the exhibition, which not only helps promote the art and the city, but also benefits the community and helps grow a digital media ecosystem.

With the success of the Digital Media programme in Athens, Onassis board member Karen Brooks-Hopkins suggested using an empty exhibition space in NY that the Onassis Foundation already had to build a lab to advance the cause and make it a transatlantic endeavor. Anthony Papadimitriou, President of the Onassis Foundation, supported the initiation of a program with an early focus on the intersection between virtual worlds, artificial intelligence and art.

In 2000, Onassis ONX (Onassis eXtended realities) opened across the pond in NYC, starting in partnership with the New Museum as part of their incubator NEW INC programme. The global platform for new media art and digital culture focuses on developing immersive work and talents, and now serves as an accelerator with hubs in both New York and Athens.

What makes Onassis ONX unique is its uncompromising vision of supporting and developing talent seeking to experiment with advanced technologies to tell deeply personal, and -hence- truly universal stories.

Prodromos Tsiavos, Head of Digital and Innovation at the Onassis Foundation

That meaningful work is not just in terms of artistic creativity and resonance, but also work that changes social perceptions. “We don’t shy away from engaging with artists that bring social issues to the forefront. That’s the DNA of all our activities in Athens and New York.”

You can see this, for example, in the curatorial vision of this year’s Tribeca Immersive, shaped under the artistic direction of Afroditi Panagiotakou and co-curated by Jazia Hammoudi, Program Director of Onassis ONX New York. The theme In Search of Us responded to and reflected on what is happening right now in the world. As Heracles notes, while this societal push may draw a backlash for some organizations, this is the kind of “shake and look forward” that is Onassis’ goal.

While the immersive work of course is driven by new technologies, much of Onassis ONX members’ work is about how humans interact with technology and what our place is amidst technology and the larger society around us. For instance, at the members summer showcase open studio days, Michaela Ternasky-Holland showed a prototype of an jnteractive/AI electoral interface revealing the performative nature of political candidates, while Matt McCorkle invited people to ask existential (or mundane) questions to a digital sanctuary bot while visually drifting amidst an ethereal landscape.

The drive to create a new model

Onassis ONX is building a network of emerging and established artists who are envisioning new ways of bridging technology and the arts. Members apply with a project – there are two annual open calls – and then have access to studio space, equipment and gallery space in the Olympic Tower headquarters – resources that are high-cost in New York. This allows for level of experimentation that otherwise would not be possible. They also have access to the now 80+ artist-member network, as well as Onassis ONX’s network of exhibitors, distributors and artistic support organizations. Once a member, they are always a member, but depending on the status of their practice, may be more or less engaged, which creates room for new members to use the resources and expertise, but also creates more opportunities for building a network. This makes for a fluid ecosystem, full of collaborations and inspiration.

We’re so happy to see this community grow – members reaching out to the new members, connecting with them, supporting and, in some cases, collaborating with them.

Heracles Papatheodorou, Digital and Development Manager at the Onassis Foundation

John Fitzgerald, Onassis ONX’s Innovation Director, was in the inaugural cohort of New Inc. members, along with current Onassis ONX Technical Director Matthew Niederhauser; they then joined ONX as early studio fellows. “Here, every artist is a hybrid of disciplines,” as John puts it. “The one thing that combines everyone is that there is no one type…But they are all using technology in a new way.”

What is inspirational is that traditional artists, performance artists, etc.. are using technology in ways they hadn’t considered before. Fitzgerald cites Sister Sylvester as a good example of an artist whose ONX membership helped expand her practice, bridging her previous performance-based work with new technologies. But her experience is also evidence of how the integrated tentacles of the Onassis cosmos offers many points of entry and development.

Her most recent piece, CONSTANTINOPOLIAD, which had its international premiere at CPH:DOX and won the INTER:ACTIVE Award, was first conceived as a commission by Onassis in Greece as part of the Cavalfy-themed Archives of Desire festival. During Sylvester’s research phase, the head of the Cavalfy archive Marianna Christofi– impressed by her deep dive – recommended her for an AIR residency, which she spent diving deeper into the archive. The piece was realized as a seven-person live performance/immersive theatre piece, but now is a apackaged, automated version that can be presented at festivals or other venues. And then Onassis ONX came on as a co-producer for its’ presentation in the line-up of Venice Immersive later this month.

“It’s a beautiful, ever-expanding organization,” she says, noting that working with Onassis is a fluid relationship, nothing totally defined, allowing for experimentation and new ideas. “Having a relationship with ONX meant I realized I could do things I hadn’t expected.”

Onassis ONX members and fellows can also apply for seed grants to experiment and develop their work, as well as applying for new commissions or support from ONX partners. New Museum/NEW INC. is still a core partner, but are now also joined by Rhizome, Pioneer Works, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Lincoln Center and Games 4 Change in New York, and with IDFA, CPH:DOX, DiMoDA, and PHI Centre globally. Those partners serve not only as support partners, but also as potential exhibition opportunities. And the ONX staff are always looking for connections for member artists – whether it be companies or other residences or exhibition platforms.

The ONX team is trying to find this more sustainable cycle where artists don’t just limp across the finish line and present a work, but really use the resources of the industry to help make work that has larger impacts and also help get a platform that can bring artists to wider audiences. Now that we’ve been in the operation for a number of years, we have a lot of very good learning for how this can function.

John Fitzgerald, Onassis ONX’s Innovation Director

Onassis ONX gives awards and fellowships in partnership with festivals and other cultural organizations, like The Onassis ONX Studio Award at CPH:DOX, which gives mentorship and studio access in New York or Athens, or the new fellowship with MIT OpenDocLab, giving access to its academic and creative network in exchange a ODL fellow gains access to the Onassis ONX space.

Member Peter Burr recently completed the Phi Immersive Residency at the Phi Studio, and three members – Brandon Powers, Annie Saunders and Andrew Schneider – went through Lincoln Center’s inaugural Collider Fellowship, for which ONX is also a collaborator. This past winter, Onassis ONX collaborated with BAM and Under the Radar on a first-of-its-kind immersive exhibition, featuring large-scale digital artworks from Fitzgerald, Niederhauser, Marc Da Costa, Margarita Athanasiou and Stephanie Dinkins.

There’s a deliberate decision to be more engaged in the presentation part of the pipeline. We’re still focusing on people’s support and artistic practice, but we feel that creating opportunities for presentation also gives professionals in the ecosystem a better feeling of the work they’ve produced.

Heracles Papatheodorou, Digital and Development Manager at the Onassis Foundation

Onassis ONX members have shown at IDFA DocLab, SXSW, CPH:DOX, Tribeca and Cannes (with Fitzgerald and Godfrey Regio’s THE VIVID UNKNOWN), to name just a few. To build that sustainable practice, Onassis is investing even more in the presentation part of the artist pipeline, building an impressive network of ONX partners for exhibitions and collaborations.

At Venice later this month, there are two other Onassis ONX-related pieces – BLUR and COLLECTIVE BODY.

BLUR, an immersive mixed-reality experience, was conceived by member Craig Quintero and Phoebe Greenberg, and coproduced by PHI Studio, Riverbed Theatre and Onassis Culture. COLLECTIVE BODY, by ONX member Sarah Silverblatt-Buser, is an immersive multi-person dance piece that explores the presence of humans in the virtual space. Both pieces received financial, production and development support from Onassis ONX.

ONX has been a great resource for knowing what is happening in the field as well as feeling part of a community of other artists working in this very niche space of Art/Tech. Being a member makes working in such a volatile, experimental and exciting space feel a bit more possible.

Sarah Silverblatt-Buser, COLLECTIVE BODY director

With both Athens and New York, there is a circular ecosystem – benefiting both Greek and international artists. Some Greek artists, who had advanced practices and were part of the NY network, are now back in Athens, contributing to building a community in Greece. For the summer school, Onassis ONX members present their work and lead workshops. This further brings the spirit of artistic innovation to the local communities in Athens.

It is something really new, the idea of working in tandem across the ocean. And doing it together is something that you rarely see, and part of the reason is because it’s too hard. But given the foundation and its history and its commitment, we can do that, and we’re doing it, and hopefully the artists and institutions get the benefit of that.

Karen Brooks-Hopkins, Onassis Foundation board member

A new Onassis ONX space at Onassis Ready will open in Athens this fall, offering studio space to 4-5 projects/makers from the next residency cycle, and the first widely public “expression” of Onassis ONX Athens will be an exhibition in Spring 2025. It’s just the latest branch in the Onassis cosmos.