Leen Al Shemaly
To go past fourty, to continue, to create.
Before We Leave
Spiral
Linen
Ground
Concert Photography
Portrait Photography
Impressum
Leen Al Shemaly
13403 Berlin, Reinickendorf
Deutschland
© 2025 Going Past Fourty. All rights reserved.
To go past fourty, to continue, to create.
Before We Leave
Spiral
Linen
Ground
Concert Photography
Portrait Photography
Impressum
Leen Al Shemaly
13403 Berlin, Reinickendorf
Deutschland
© 2025 Going Past Fourty. All rights reserved.
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, and Sofia.
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, the exhibition became a space where art, friendship, and spontaneity intertwined.
August 3, 2024, Rehberge Park
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
Project supervisors: Prof. Lukas Staudinger, Jeannette Riedel, Barbora Demovič, Berlin International University of Applied Sciences
Project by: Alina Vorozhtsova, Carsten Speilmann, Gloria Milikovic, Leen Al Shemaly, Svetlana Koroleva
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