Leen Al Shemaly


To go past fourty, to continue, to create.


Before We Leave / Book
Linen / Exhibiton
Posters
Unsaid / Zine
Spiral Exhibition
Ground / Photo Project
Portrait Photography
Concert Photography


Email
Instagram
Youtube


Impressum
Leen Al Shemaly
13403 Berlin, Reinickendorf
Deutschland

Before We Leave


Before We Leave is a photographic exploration of four Berlin Wohngemeinschaften (shared living spaces), tracing the fragile yet enduring marks of communal life — from morning rituals and shared fridges to forgotten objects and marked walls. Through black and white photographs taken by the artist and color images created by residents, the project becomes a layered dialogue between individual memory and collective experience.

The book itself is crafted as an object of memory: photographs printed on rough ivory paper, interwoven with handwritten text from the WGs. Its cover is made from polished stainless steel, hand-embossed with a knife, and bound by hand using a Coptic stitch sewn through drilled metal plates. Each detail turns the publication into both an archive and an act of quiet resistance — honoring Berlin’s WGs as fleeting, vital sites of urban life.

May – June 2025

Participants:
Albina, Coke, Hanna, Laura, Mati, Mel, Nastya, Rayah, Sita, Sofia.


Linen


Rooted in Der Distelhof, a volunteer-based initiative, this project explores how design can create inclusive, sensory-calm spaces in a rural setting. Merging graphic, interior, and architectural design, it centers neurodiversity and the importance of process over result. Linen serves as both material and metaphor — soft, adaptable, and supportive — reflecting values of comfort, accessibility, and connection. Inspired by the Distelhof principle that “animals don’t judge”, the project shows how limited resources and community-driven design can foster belonging.

November 2024 - January 2025
Linen was exhibited during Berlin Design Week and at Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory

Academic Supervision:
Prof. Lukas Staudinger
Prof. Jeannette Riedel
Barbora Demovič, M.A. 

Project by:
Alina Vorozhtsova
Carsten Speilmann
Gloria Milikovic
Leen Al Shemaly
Svetlana Koroleva


Graphics and Posters


I absolutely adore working with analogue and digital mediums.


Unsaid - Exploitation in Media and Art


A zine that blurs the boundaries between media and art.
Readers become voyagers, moving through tales of media exploitation, manipulation, and the commodification of imagery. “Unsaid” invites reflection on our collective role within these narratives. How we consume, distort, and are shaped by the stories that surround us. This zine transforms reading into an act of participation, urging you to listen between the lines and question what remains unsaid.

Academic Supervision:
Prof. Henrik Rieß
Felix Müller, M.A. 
Anc Ciechanowicz, M.A. 
Anna Bernhardt, B.A. 
Barbora Demovič, M.A. 

Project by:
Albina Khabiyeva 
Aleksandra Solovjova ( @someonedrawsasha ) 
Lara Miles ( @laramiless )
Leen Al Shemaly ( @leenshem ) 


Spiral


At 20, all I could think was why not? Why not create something that could bring my friends together? Spiral was born from that impulse, a gathering in the heart of Rehberge Park, shaped by connection, curiosity, and the simple joy of making something real. Hosted by me and my friend Coke Pereira, the exhibition became a space where art, friendship, and spontaneity intertwined.

August 3, 2024, Rehberge Park


Ground


A photography project about the struggle of returning to movement. I’ve been dancing since childhood, and I’ve come to know the quiet ache of stillness, the loss of flow, the unfamiliar weight within my own body. Staying grounded felt impossible when I felt like stone. This project traces a slow, tender journey back to motion, a dream that fades in and out, always hoping to return.

April 2025

Participants: 
Coke, Hanna, Monia, Sasha


Portrait Photography


People People People, Always.

Models:
Monia
IsitSeif
Delah Dube
Sasha, twice
Veronica Melissari
Toy Tonics audience at Oxi club
Niclas Liebling
Bymaddz


Concerts


I love music, I love taking pictures, I love talking to people.
I love combining it all.

Artists:
Last Train at Lollapalooza Berlin 2025
JAGD at Gretchen Berlin 2025
Psycho Calypso at Artistania March 2025
DENISA at Urban Spree April 2025
Swiss Pleasure at Schokoladen 2024
Goldie at Maschinenhaus March 2025
Kasper Föhr's at Artistania December 2024