Few lamps have aged as gracefully as Akari. Isamu Noguchi's paper and bamboo light sculptures turn 75 this year, and The Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, Queens, is marking the moment with No Ordinary Light: Akari at 75. The exhibition runs from November 4, 2026 to September 5, 2027.
Where Akari began
Noguchi made the first Akari in 1951 in Gifu, Japan, a city long known for its paper lanterns. He took the traditional craft of washi paper stretched over a bamboo frame and pushed it into sculpture, using light as part of the form. The name itself means light, and also suggests lightness. Over the following decades he designed more than 200 models, from small table lamps to towering floor pieces and hanging shades that feel more like clouds than fixtures.
What is in the exhibition
The show looks at Akari as both design object and artwork. It draws on key moments in their history, including the 1951 tea ceremony at the Eames House in California, where Akari appeared in one of the most famous mid century interiors, and the 1986 Venice Biennale, where Noguchi represented the United States and showed Akari alongside his sculpture. Those two touchpoints frame the lamps as something that moved easily between domestic life and the art world.
The exhibition is curated by Kate Wiener and Matthew Kirsch. The archival image above, showing Akari glowing in the museum's galleries in the 1980s, gives a sense of how Noguchi himself liked to see them: in groups, at different heights, filling a room with soft, even light.
Why they still feel modern
Part of the appeal is honesty. Akari are made from simple, humble materials, paper and bamboo, yet the light they give is warm, diffuse and flattering in a way few fixtures match. They were designed to be lived with, not kept behind glass, and they sit as comfortably on a bedside table as they do in a gallery. Seventy five years on, the forms still look fresh because they were never chasing a trend in the first place. That combination of craft, sculpture and everyday usefulness is why they still show up in new homes, hotels and studios three quarters of a century later, and why so many imitations exist.
Visit and shop
Hours, tickets and directions are on the museum's visit page. If the show sends you looking for a lamp of your own, the museum's official shop carries authentic Akari models, which is the surest way to avoid a copy.
Why it matters
This one is Surfacing. Akari are one of the great design stories of the last century, and a 75th anniversary show at Noguchi's own museum is the definitive way to see them. For the full background, read Isamu Noguchi's Akari light sculptures explained, and for more lighting ideas, browse our best design lamps.
