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The New Museum’s cultural incubator NEW INC today announced DEMO2026, a three-day art, design, and technology festival featuring industry leaders and NEW INC members running from June 3–5 at the New Museum. Through demonstrations, exhibitions, performances, workshops, and talks, this public festival will spotlight innovative projects created by 39 current NEW INC members whose interdisciplinary work spans art, design, technology, science, architecture, and entrepreneurship.
Founded in 2014 as the first museum-born cultural incubator, NEW INC supports a cohort of approximately 120 creative practitioners each year with a value-driven program including professional development, mentorship, and community building opportunities. As part of NEW INC’s work connecting members with industry leaders, “Demo Day” was launched in 2016 to showcase member projects before an invitation-only audience of creative directors, investors, and curators, offering insight into the next generation of interdisciplinary projects. In 2023, DEMO opened to the public with an extended program of performances, keynote talks, exhibitions, and opportunities to interact with NEW INC’s community of mentors and alumni. DEMO2026 will be the first edition of the festival to take place since the New Museum opened its OMA-designed building expansion on the Bowery.
“DEMO2026 is an opportunity for NEW INC members to share their work with the greater artistic community, and we’re glad to be back on the Bowery this year operating out of NEW INC’s purpose-built home in the expanded New Museum,” said Salome Asega, New Museum Deputy Director of Strategy and Innovation and Director of NEW INC. “We are delighted to showcase the work that our members have been pursuing this year across an array of topics—including designing architectural and spatial interventions for public space, leveraging XR tools to create reimagined worlds, finding cooperative models for community building, and making scientific practices part of our daily life.”
“We are thrilled to welcome NEW INC’s expansive community of alumni and industry leaders back to the New Museum for DEMO2026,” said Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director of the New Museum. “DEMO is an embodiment of the New Museum’s commitment to sharing cutting-edge art and ideas with the public, and we look forward to learning from and celebrating with this year’s exceptional cohort of NEW INC members.”
Hosted at the newly reopened New Museum, DEMO2026 will feature keynote speakers including multimedia artist and filmmaker Lawrence Lek, art and cultural historian Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, artist and Ojas sound system founder Devon Turnbull, and NTS Radio founder Femi Adeyemi. DEMO2026 will also feature Studio DEMO, a platform for arts organizations from around the globe to collaborate on creative programming during the festival, with partner organizations including Rhizome, Serpentine, Geidai Project, YoungArts, and Onassis ONX. DEMO2026 will also feature a Track Showcase, an exhibition of new and evolving work by NEW INC members organized by NEW INC Y6 alumna Mindy Seu on view from June 3–10.
NEW INC’s Year 12 cohort members presenting at DEMO2026 include participants in five tracks: Art & Code, considering the future of internet-based art in collaboration with Rhizome; Creative Science, exploring modes of scientific inquiry to advance creativity and storytelling; Extended Realities, examining the artistic potentials of technology to blur the physical and digital worlds; Social Architecture, rooting design and architecture practices in community-centered, ecologically-engaged thinking; and Cooperative Studies, exploring community and worker-centered models for planning, funding, and governing. At DEMO2026, each of the five tracks will feature a keynote speaker and presentations by current track members.
Art & Code
- Keynote address by Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Lewis
- Mainstage talks by Aurora Mititelu, Lita (Karla) Vinueza, Morry Kolman, Romi Morrison, Shakti Mb
Cooperative Studies
- Keynote address by Femi Adeyemi
- Mainstage talks by Be Oakley, Bobby Joe Smith III, Marion Tannis, Chester Toye, Maelys Monga, and Melissa Lyde
Creative Science
- Keynote speaker to be announced
- Mainstage talks by Adam Vackar, Annie Chen, Zoe Lee, Joshua Dawson, Sabina Hyoju Ahn, and Sirintip
Extended Realities
- Keynote address by Lawrence Lek
- Mainstage talks by Chipo Mapondera, Maya Charles, Rena Anakwe, Navild Acosta, Dr. Shadow F. Sosa, and Yaloo Lim
Social Architecture
- Keynote address by Devon Turnbull
- Mainstage talks by Davi Merchan, Bradley Pitts, Alex KB Monroe, AB Rey, Gabrielle Horton, Marina Garcia-Vasquez, and Ora Ferdman
Showcase Presentations
- NEW INC curated by Mindy Seu with works by Adam Vackar, Aurora Mititelu, Bobby Joe Smith III, Dr. Shadow F. Sosa, Jeremy Kamal Hartley, Yaloo Lim, Kordae Jatafa Henry, Marissa Sean Cruz, Navild Acosta, Peter Nichols, Shahira Hammad, Tara Kelton, Tess Oldfield, Umber Majeed, William Elliot, and Yuri Lee
- EY Media Lab Commission featuring Ancestral Intelligence Network: Echolocation, a new work by NEW INC alumna Jazsalyn (Y8 and Y9) developed through a residency with EY Intelligent Realities Lab
- Organized in partnership with Melco Group Inc., the Geidai Project showcase features work by members of the Japanese consortium including Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai), Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University, and Aichi University of the Arts
Details on the full DEMO2026 schedule will be released at the end of April. For more information, please visit demofestival.org.
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