The Iconic Akari Lamp Celebrated With Two New York Exhibitions

The Noguchi Museum in New York is paying homage to Akari paper lamps created in 1951 by Isamu Noguchi with two exhibitions.

These Akari lamps, inspired by Japanese paper lamps made from paper, wood and bamboo, are among the rare group of pieces of art that, thanks to their global success, have become entirely integrated into popular culture. Thanks to their low production costs and their lightweight quality, these foldable lamps have become household items across the globe, to the point at which it is easy to forget that they were originally created as artworks.

Akari, which means light in Japanese, and also implies lightness, were thought up by the Japanese-American designer Isamu Noguchi. A disciple of Brancusi and a renowned sculptor, he made a name for himself with the 1940 sculpture News which is displayed at the Rockefeller Center in New York.

It was 13 years later that Noguchi had the idea to create the Akari lamps during a stay in Ginfu, Japan. This town, renowned for its paper lantern and parasol production, inspired the round lamp which resembles a sun, diffusing soft electric light. This simple design, both warm and versatile, was met with great success, leading to mass production in Japanese factories, leading the artist to develop 200 different variants on the original.

Until 5 May 2019, visitors to the Noguchi Museum, created by its namesake himself, can check out the exhibitions Akari, sculpture by another means and Akari unfolded, a collection by Ymer&Malta. The first of the shows is more history oriented, presenting around 100 original Akari lamp models. The second looks to the future, Valérie Maltaverne, the brains behind the French studio Ymer&Malta, has called upon six designers and over 20 artisans to reinvent the lamp with around 30 never-seen-before models. In resin, porcelain and plexiglass, these works serve to write the next chapter in the Akari story.