SAMANEH REYHANI

'Kaboud'

Cecilia Hillström Gallery
Stockholm, 2021

For the exhibition her starting point has been the poem Haft Peykar in the book Panj Ganj by Nezami-ye Ganjavi, one of the greatest romantic poets in Persian literature, and the significance of colour in this story. Kaboud – meaning pigeon blue in Persian – is a colour associated with melancholy and mourning, but also spirituality and longing, that permeates the works in this presentation.

Another important concept present in the works is djaan which roughly translates into soul, life, or essence. The term has lent its title to the largest work in the show: the circle, a symbol of unity in itself, coloured in kaboud. The theme is important in the work of Persian poet Rumi, who speaks about djaan as a constant separation from the whole and the longing for this unattainable yet elevated state.


Text by Katrin Källeskog