panasonic initiates 'cut out the darkness' solar lantern campaign

panasonic initiates ‘cut out the darkness’ solar lantern campaign

panasonic has launched the ‘cut out the darkness’ campaign which aims at bringing light to the over 1.3 billion people who live without any access to electricity. since 2006, the corporation has been donating solar lanterns to those in need, with the goal of distributing 100,000 by its 100th anniversary in 2018. the lighting devices generate electricity during the day, storing that energy within the lamp’s secondary battery for use during the night.

the ‘cut out the darkness’ campaign aims to bring light to the world’s more than 1.3 billion people without electricity

the ‘cut out the darkness’ project invites the general public to design and submit cut-out patterns for feature on panasonic’s solar lanterns. the entries will be posted for view on the ‘cut out the darkness’ website where anyone can participate and vote on their favourite motif. the top 100 selected ornamented shades will be delivered to off-grid homes and schools with solar lamps, in an act to reduce the use of dangerous CO2 kerosene lamps that are currently being used — and which pose a number of health and environmental risks — while offering something personal to those individuals living without electricity.

accompanying the scores of designs presented by the public, is the work of 11 international paper-cutting artists who are taking part in the initiative: hina aoyama (yokohama, JPN); elod beregszaszi (budapest, HUN); jonathan chapman – mr. yen designs (leeds, GBR); sarah dennis (sussex, GBR); mayuko fujino (new york, USA); julene harrison (sussex, GBR); anna howarth (manchester, GBR); bovey lee (pennsylvania, USA); elaine penwell (california, USA); xin song (new york, USA); and kako ueda (tokyo, JPN).

artist mayuko fujino (new york, USA) personalized lampshade for the ‘cut out the darkness’ campaign

artist anna howarth (manchester, GBR) personalized lampshade for the ‘cut out the darkness’ campaign

many submissions of personalized lamp shade designs have been submitted from across the globe. learn more about how you can submit your design and help ‘bring light to areas in darkness’ here.

‘cut out the darkness’ submission – ‘stars’ by SAHO

‘cut out the darkness’ submission – ‘funa’ by KUMA

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