Exhibition: Samaneh Reyhani

Carl Eldh Studio Museum is pleased to present this year’s invited artist for the summer exhibition 2026 – the sculptor Samaneh Reyhani (b. 1990, Tehran, Iran).

Samaneh Reyhani is a Swedish-Iranian artist whose practice moves between the tangible and the poetic, with Persian cultural heritage forming a constant underlying current. Through sculpture and spatial compositions, she creates tactile, immersive environments in which historical references and contemporary experiences are interwoven.

In this summer’s exhibition, Reyhani presents a cohesive body of new and earlier works, with an emphasis on large-scale installations and monumental sculptures. Themes of longing, illumination and rebirth take shape as a continuation of an ongoing narrative, rooted in texts by Persian philosophers, poets and mystics.

– Entering Carl Eldhs studio, I heard a song. The song didn’t leave me. I could do nothing but follow it, says Samaneh Reyhani. She continues with an excerpt from the philosopher and mystic Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi’s text ‘The Song of Gabriel’s Wing’.

“… they asked him, why the Wearers of Blue (Kaboud) call certain sounds the ‘song of Gabriel’s wing.’ He replied, ‘Most of the things your senses perceive come from the song of Gabriel’s wing.’ And to the one who had asked the question he said, ‘You are one of the songs of Gabriel’s wing.’”

Reyhani’s work in wood, stone and bronze meets Carl Eldh’s craft-based sculptural tradition, and a clear affinity emerges. In this encounter, the material’s own voice comes to the fore – both carrying and shaping the sculptural expression.

About the artist

Samaneh Reyhani, born in 1990 in Tehran, Iran, is based in Malmö. After studying film at Soore University in Tehran, she continued her education at the University of Art in Tehran, where she received her BA in Sculpture in 2014. In the same year, she moved to Sweden and, between 2015 and 2017, completed an MFA in Fine Art at the Malmö Art Academy.

Reyhani has gained recognition through several solo exhibitions, including Bagh-e man (Cecilia Hillström Gallery, Stockholm, 2024), Boostan (Gävle Konstcentrum, 2023), Kaboud (Cecilia Hillström Gallery, Stockholm, 2021), and has participated in significant group exhibitions such as Som här (Trelleborg Museum, 2024), Uppsala Art Museum, Malmö Art Museum and Skissernas Museum.

Reyhani has also carried out public commissions, including Cheshmeh for Eleonoraskolan in Stockholm (2025), Gowhar for Uppsala City Hall (2021) and Shams for MKB in Malmö (2020). Her works are held in collections including Public Art Agency Sweden, the Ståhl Collection, as well as Malmö Art Museum, Gävle Konstcentrum and Uppsala Art Museum. She has received grants and awards from, among others, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts, the Edstrand Foundation, and the Aase and Richard Björklund Foundation. Reyhani is represented by Cecilia Hillström Gallery.

Carl Eldh’s Studio Museum would like to express warm thanks to Pontus Bonnier, Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation and Anne-Marie Lembcke – The Ad Infinitum Foundation for generous donations, as well as to the Swedish Arts Council, the City of Stockholm and the Stockholm Region for significant cultural support.

Photo: Marcus Matt