Rediscover Project Releases Report on Participation in New York's 'DEMO 2026,' Showcasing Exhibition Highlights and On-site Presentation

Rediscover project participated in 'DEMO 2026,' the annual art, design, and technology festival held at NEW INC, a creative incubator established by New York’s contemporary art museum, NEW MUSEUM.

On June 4 during the exhibition period, Junichi Okuyama, founder of Rediscover project and CEO of CACL Inc., delivered a presentation in New York, receiving strong attendance and support. The positive response to the artworks reaffirmed the international audience’s deep interest in Japan’s repair culture, values, and Japanese sensibilities.

For further details about the exhibition, please visit:

https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000016.000138619.html

This report shares documentation of the exhibition and highlights from the on-site presentation.

We were given the opportunity to present to a large audience, sharing the origins of CACL Inc., the birth of Rediscover project, and our journey so far.

It was a meaningful experience to speak directly in front of actual artworks about our mission: to create socially impactful creative value by reflecting on how discarded ceramic fragments mirror marginalized people in society, our ongoing welfare initiatives, the transformative impact since the Noto Peninsula earthquake, and our two participations in exhibitions hosted by the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa.

Below are excerpts from the Q&A session.

Q: Who is your Rediscover project for, and why do you do it?

A: The starting point of this project is not reverence for technique or tradition.

When I first saw ceramic shards discarded as out-of-spec at a Kutani ware kiln, I saw a parallel with people with disabilities being excluded from society. Broken, out of spec, cast out—the structure felt the same.

Who is this project for? The answer is simple.

Everyone and everything that exists outside existing standards.

Japan has a concept called 'mitate,' which means reinterpreting something from a different perspective to find new meaning. We aim not only to reinterpret ceramic shards as creative material but also to reframe the very idea of 'out-of-spec.' Being outside the standard does not mean broken; it means possessing a unique individuality.

After all, there is no such thing as a perfect vessel. We are all fragments. When we realize this, fragments can connect. We believe that when people recognize we are all fragments, we can truly connect.

Rediscover project is an experiment to change this perspective.

And we aim to question and transform the social structure that excludes and continues to exclude those outside the norm.

Q: It has been two years since the Noto Peninsula earthquake. How do you envision Rediscover project contributing to the local community in Noto going forward?

A: The earthquake enabled connections across previously separate domains—artists of Suzu ware, Kutani ware producers, and Wajima lacquerware artisans. This cross-pollination has undoubtedly influenced their respective artistic expressions.

We have welcomed Wajima lacquer artisans who had to leave Wajima City due to the earthquake, created new employment opportunities, and hired young lacquer artists to ensure technical succession. Our studio has become a unique environment where Kutani ceramics fragments, kilns, and lacquer studios coexist. Skills are being passed down in this setting, and perhaps, in time, those who master lacquer art here may return to Wajima City. That would be poetic.

However, we began collecting fragments long before the disaster. We sensed overlooked value in ceramics discarded as out-of-spec. The earthquake accelerated this inquiry and instantly connected crafts, people, and regions that had never interacted before.

Our initiative is not disaster relief.

The questions we saw before the disaster—labor shortages, traditional craft succession, the fate of those placed outside standards—remain unchanged after the disaster.

The earthquake accelerated these questions, but even if Noto recovers, these questions will persist.

Our studio, where soil, lacquer, and ceramic fragments coexist, will continue to be a place that confronts these questions.

That is our long-term answer to Noto.

Artwork incorporating fragments into handmade paper

Everyone carries some kind of 'fragment' in their heart.

It might be loss, failure, change, anxiety, or a precious memory. Connection doesn’t come from being whole, but rather from incompleteness—only then can people empathize and connect with others.

We frequently observed visitors reflecting on their own experiences and memories while viewing the vessels and fragments. This reaction, even before we explained our intended message, revealed immense potential. We have always hoped that Rediscover project would be received not only as a story of Japanese craftsmanship or disaster recovery, but also as something that resonates with personal experiences.

We reaffirm that this project is not only about connecting ceramic fragments but also about connecting people, people and land, and people and memory.

The exhibited works received enthusiastic acclaim, and audience feedback was highly insightful.

With this positive momentum, we will continue striving forward, actively considering further international expansion.

CACL Inc.

Project website: https://rediscoverproject.jp/

Official website: https://cacl.jp/

Address: 56 Ri, Tatsugochō, Nomi City, Ishikawa Prefecture 923-1245

Representative: Junichi Okuyama

Established: June 1, 2023 (Reiwa 5)

Tel: 0761-48-8004