Handcrafted earthenware objects are omnipresent throughout Western Africa. Both as everyday utensils, such as storage pots or plates, but also as vessels needed for voodoo rituals and ceremonies. With the advent of plastic as well as an increased suspicion of traditional rituals, the ceramic production however is dwindling or becoming ever more rare.
The Golizen Lamp takes its inspiration both from local material and the form of ritual voodoo vases and reinterprets them to create the body of a lamp.
Working closely with craftswomen in Togo, the lamp's final shape owes to their expertise of what is sturdy, durable and doable. The lamps are crafted using a Togolese ceramic technique (handmade clay sculptures that are burned in traditional earthen ovens). Clay is a natural material used in the local crafts tradition of Togo, it allows a number of different finishes that can be experimented with. Though done in batches, each piece is hand-crafted and thus varies ever so slightly from its lineage.
Lamp and decorative object in equal measure the Golizen’s height of approx. 30 cms (without the light bulb) makes it versatile as either a floor lamp or placed on a sideboard or low desk. The body itself is hollow and can hold a long cable, making it possible to change the distance from an electric source with ease. Envisioned without a lampshade, instead the solitary base draws stark attention to itself. The piece is perfectly suited as a statement piece within any space from office to living room.
