“Resting Arms”
by Nairy Baghramian
Nairy Baghramian, Resting Arms. Courtesy the artist and Kistefos. Photo: Vegard Kleven.
Resting Arms
- Artist Nairy Baghramian
At the opening of the 2025 season, Kistefos was delighted to unveil the 56th permanent work in the museum’s sculpture park: Resting Arms by the Iranian-born, German artist Nairy Baghramian (b. 1971). The sculpture, a highly abstracted portrait of primary joints in the body, was made in white Carrara marble and steel. By highlighting the vulnerability of the human form, Baghramian challenged the traditional connotations of durability and monumentality often associated with these sculptural materials.
The sculpture’s two blocks of marble are heavily veined and pitted on their surface, suggesting fragility, sensitivity and, in the artist’s own words, ‘possible collapse’. They resemble arms and elbows, which the artist has given respite from centuries of upright poses and postures. Baghramian moves the joints from their typical orientation, allowing them to rest and to recover from the stress and impact of daily use. Sited on Kistefos’ terrain, the sculpture invites visitors to do the same – find a moment of contemplation and pause as the panorama of the landscape unfolds beyond.
This four-metre-tall work marked Baghramian’s first in Northern Europe and became an important addition to the growing sculpture park at Kistefos. It was installed by the museum’s south entrance and unveiled during the season opening on 4 May 2025.
Nairy Baghramian, Resting Arms. Courtesy the artist and Kistefos. Photo: Vegard Kleven.