Switching light on and off. An everyday, voluntary and repeated gesture, sometimes carried out automatically, and which apparently, seems to have nothing to do with the concept of irreversibility. Karman on the other hand, with its usual irony and irreverent freedom of expression, has set out a sense of parallelism, an allusion to circumstances that – due to their incontrovertible nature – redefine us, our priorities and the way we are in the world. This is always done with a positive spirit, transforming an obstacle into an opportunity or at least, into something that needs to be taken into account, without being overshadowed.

For Karman this is light: the thing that pushes them to move forwards, lighting the way without becoming overwhelmed by events, by conditioning, rationality, and with that tiny pinch of folly that is so typical of the company, which leads to unique, original and at times, eccentric designs.

The 2019 collection is a part of this context, with its many references to different micro and macrocosms, from popular culture, to the world of illusionism, to the East, to history: new design names that have joined the great Karman family – Paola Navone, with the opulent, evocative Bibendum in blown glass; and Giorgio Biscaro, who has captured the ironic identity of Karman, combining it with an approach to research in the two eye-catching, magical designs, Umarell and Binarell.

Light sources that are all different yet brought together by the desire to create beauty, free from schemes and prejudices, for seamless use indoors or out, with wide-ranging, expert and diversified lighting materials and technologies; and incursions into artisan techniques, such as the ancient art of glass blowing. This allows Karman to satisfy the needs of contract furnishings, curated in the smallest details, as well as niche projects, whether restaurants, bistros, small resorts or boutique hotels.

And among these new arrivals we have a new personage to add to the increasingly comprehensive “Karman zoo”, with the Amsterdam lamp by Matteo Ugolini, art director at Karman. To smile, exorcise and light up our contemporary spaces with a spirit that is unusual, bold and unconventional.