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We are thrilled to announce that the Nasjonalmuseet, Norway's National Museum, has acquired the sculpture Amorous Couple by Canadian-Iranian multidisciplinary artist Rah Eleh. This marks the first placement of Eleh's work in a European museum and the first acquisition of the artist's work by the Nasjonalmuseet.
Amorous Couple is a 3D-printed sculpture by Iranian-Canadian interdisciplinary artist Rah Eleh. Created in 2025, the eye-catching, life-size artwork reimagines a 17th-century Mughal illustration and is celebrated as a rare visual record of female same-sex desire in Islamic art history.
The two queer figures are inspired by a 17th-century Mughal miniature, currently housed at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The sculpture on the left, identified as the king’s guard, is an androgynous figure who exhibits a mustache and an extended hairline. The figure on the right represents an aristocrat and one of the king’s many wives. Historical writings note that such guards would pleasure the wives with carrots and cucumbers in the secluded women’s quarters.
In the original depiction, the attire symbolizes status and the hierarchical relationship between them. In response, many revisions were made to mitigate these power dynamics. The work is the first in a series in which I unearth and recontextualize art-historical imagery of lesbians, bringing it into the contemporary moment for reconsideration and monumentalization.
Details:
Rah Eleh, Amorous Couple, 3D Print, PLA, wood, 46 x 33 Inches, Approx. 5'2" each figure, 2025
Amorous Couple was first exhibited in Deviant Ornaments exhibition (which ran in Oslo from November 2025 to March 2026), exploring the queer history and lineages of Islamic art. Curated by Dr. Noor Bhangu, the exhibition featured Damien Ajavon, Kasra Jalilipour, and Rah Eleh
The eschewed traditional chronological divisions to present a cross-generational panorama of queer desire spanning a thousand years
To learn more about Rah Eleh's practice, click below
