About Onassis Foundation
Onassis AiR is an international artistic research and residency program established in Athens, Greece, in 2019. It is located next to Onassis Stegi in the Neos Kosmos neighborhood of Athens and, since 2025, has expanded its activities to Onassis Ready, a new addition to the Onassis Foundation’s dynamic ecosystem, dedicated to experimentation with digital technologies and large-scale projects. Since its launch, Onassis AiR has been committed to fostering artistic research and process by providing time and space to arts professionals from diverse disciplines and from across the3 world, enabling them to delve deeper into their practice without the pressure of presenting a final work.
Onassis ONX is the Onassis Foundation’s global platform for art and advanced technologies. Acting as a catalyst for digital cultures, it supports genre-defying new media and immersive projects while also bolstering a network of institutions and industries ready to respond to new forms of creative expression. Onassis ONX is dedicated to supporting innovative creators across development, presentation, and distribution through its studios in Athens and New York. Such a holistic approach throughout the creative process enables world-building at the frontiers of AI, immersive and spatial computing, gaming, and other emergent time-based media, fostering works that meaningfully engage audiences around the world.
About the residency
The selected participants for the EMAP residency will join in the AiR/ONX residency program cohort. In this context, for the 2026/27 season, we specifically invite proposals that explore digital conceptualizations with analog qualities, including non-surveillance, anti-extraction, and non-algorithmic approaches. We seek art and advanced technology projects that challenge prevailing AI paradigms – exemplified by LLMs and big tech – which demand vast amounts of energy and resources for both training and operation. Likewise, we are interested in concepts centered on non-extractive platforms, tactical AI tech stacks, slow technologies, and technologies oriented toward pausing and healing. We welcome ideas engaging with techno-shamanism and techno-spirituality, as well as affective tech specifications and affective design.
What the program offers
In addition to the benefits described in the EMAP open call, the artist in residence will receive the following:
Workspace & accommodation
Workspace at Onassis AiR in the Neos Kosmos area (Leontiou 5, 11745, Neos Kosmos, Athens) and the studio spaces of Onassis AiR and Onassis ONX in the Renti area (Strati Tsirka 2, 18233, Agios Ioannis Rentis, Athens).
Accommodation in a flat in walking distance from Onassis AiR and Onassis Stegi in Neos Kosmos.
Collective activities & Professional development
Cultural engagement:
Opportunities to engage with the art scene in Athens through curated activities, organized site visits, and networking events.
Professional development:
The program offers professional development activities, including workshops, talks, masterclasses, peer-to-peer feedback sessions, and networking opportunities.
Mentoring:
Access to mentoring from a diverse pool of collaborators across Onassis AiR, Onassis Theater & Dance, Onassis ONX, and the Cavafy Archive, including curators, dramaturgs, producers, academics, technologists, and researchers. Participants in the AiR/ONX residency have addiaccess to mentoring from industry experts and academic advisors and to curatorial and technical consulting from the Onassis ONX team and members in both Athens and New York. Additionally, the Onassis AiR/ONX Fellows may take part in showcase and networking opportunities within the Onassis Culture ecosystem, as well as with external distributors, investors, and producers.
Equipment & Studio access
Equipment access:
Access to a range of resources for the production and prototyping of media works, such as VR headsets, microcontrollers & sensors, professional DSLR and action cameras , microphones, sound recorders, speakers, media players, audio mixer, audio cards, projectors, desktop computers, monitors, 3D printers, A/V software suites, an A3 Xerox printing tower, and hand and power tools for light construction work.
Studio spaces:
Access to stage equipped with motion-capture, multi-channel audio, and projection arrays, as well as a sound recording and editing studio, and rehearsal studios at the Onassis Stegi and Onassis ONX premises in Athens.
Additional resources
Library:
Over the past years, Onassis AiR has developed a growing library of books and publications specializing in contemporary art, aimed at supporting our programs and the research of artists and art practitioners using the space. This collection spans diverse thematic areas – including critical theory, art and politics, digital art, institutional critique, curating, ecologies, economies, feminism, philosophy, and architecture – and features exhibition catalogues, artist monographs, and artist books.
Dining resources:
Access to a well-equipped kitchen, seasonal herbs and vegetables from our rooftop garden, and an in-house restaurant offering cooked meals from a weekly low-cost menu at the Neos Kosmos building. At Onassis AiR, regular collective lunches have become a tradition, offering an opportunity to come together and connect over a shared meal. All groceries for these biweekly collective lunches are provided by Onassis AiR.
Finally, all the program participants can take advantage of the resources of other Onassis Foundation initiatives and units, including free entry to events, performances, workshops, yoga classes, and other activities.
