Onassis ONX joins “Behind the Screen”
A new international commissioning network for digital art
Onassis ONX has joined Factory International (UK), ACMI (Australia), and M+ (Hong Kong) to launch “Behind the Screen”. Bringing together leading cultural institutions across Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America, the initiative creates a global platform for the collaborative commissioning, production, and presentation of ambitious screen-based works.
Theo Triantafyllidis, preview still for “Funny Weather” (working title), 2026. Courtesy of the Artist.
Designed to support artists working across digital culture, simulation, virtual media, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies, “Behind the Screen” creates new pathways for large-scale digital artworks to be developed collaboratively and presented internationally. The initiative launches with the world premiere of “Funny Weather,” a new live simulation artwork by Onassis ONX Member Theo Triantafyllidis, at Factory International in Manchester in November 2026. The work will then travel to New York, Athens, Hong Kong, and Melbourne.
As founding collaborators and co-commissioners, the Onassis Foundation and Onassis ONX contribute curatorial, production, presentation, and communications support through their studios in Athens and New York, helping build a new international model for commissioning and circulating digital art.
Factory International is the organization behind Manchester International Festival and the city's landmark cultural space, Aviva Studios.
Factory International commissions, produces, and presents a year-round program of original creative work and special events at Aviva Studios, online, and internationally through its network of co-commissioners and partners. It also stages the citywide Manchester International Festival (MIF) every other year.
Factory International builds on the legacy of Manchester International Festival, one of the world's leading arts festivals, and the first to be entirely focused on the commissioning and producing of ambitious new work. Staged every two years in Manchester since 2007, world-renowned artists from different art forms and backgrounds create dynamic, innovative, and forward-thinking new work in venues and spaces across Greater Manchester.
Aviva Studios was designed by the world-leading practice Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), with Ellen van Loon as lead architect – their first major public building in the UK. Its development was led by Manchester City Council, with backing from HM Government and National Lottery funding from Arts Council England.
Ultra-flexible in design, the building is based around large, open, adaptable spaces that can be constantly reconfigured, enabling artists to develop and create large-scale work of invention and ambition of a kind not seen anywhere else in the world. A unique canvas to make, explore, and experiment, audiences can enjoy the broadest range of art forms – from major exhibitions and concerts to intimate performances and immersive experiences.
Factory International plays an important role in the lives of Greater Manchester residents, bringing jobs, skills, training, and creative opportunities. Through the Factory Academy, Factory International is training the creative workforce of the future, while its pioneering creative engagement and artist development programs create year-round opportunities for local people to get involved, from participating in flagship commissions to shaping the organization through involvement in its public forums.
Factory International is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.
ACMI is Australia’s national museum of screen culture. Watch, play, make, and discover the universe of screen-based art, films, TV, and video games. Visit us in Melbourne’s Fed Square, online and on tour. Our museum attracts millions of visitors through a vibrant offer of exhibitions, screenings, commissions, and festivals. ACMI’s industry, education, and creative incubator programs inspire and develop the next generation of screen creatives. We are a globally recognized hub that connects people, communities, technology, and ideas to shape our futures.
M+ is Asia’s global museum of contemporary visual culture. Located in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District (WestK), it is dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design and architecture, moving image, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The landmark M+ building on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbourfront was designed by the world-renowned architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron in partnership with TFP Farrells and Arup. It spans a total floor area of 65,000 square meters, featuring thirty-three galleries alongside a Learning Hub, Moving Image Centre, Research Centre, and Roof Garden, among other event and programming spaces. The M+ Facade is one of the largest LED screens in the world, showcasing commissioned artworks on the Hong Kong skyline every evening. The museum stewards a multidisciplinary permanent collection that includes objects from regions across Asia and beyond. A highlight is the M+ Sigg Collection, one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Chinese contemporary art. Today, M+ is a nexus for researching and presenting contemporary visual culture, inspiring thought and curiosity.
