Sat 8/1 @ 5-9PM
SHED Projects, the house gallery on Cleveland’s west side, that presents shows and events that are heavily conceptual, opens its fall season with a one-evening-only collaborative work called Z aw j | زوج (the Arabic term and slang for pairs) by artists Yasmeen Nematt Alla from Egypt and Jillian Blackwell from Texas, who have been working together since 2024. A site-specific work, as SHED’s often are it combines performance, sound and language in what’s described as “a meditation on pairs, repetition, and the ways memory moves through generations.”
The two artists, we’re told “are interested in the points of convergence that emerge when beginning from very different starting points. Their collaborative practice inverts and upturns nostalgic, familial, and mundane experiences, linking them into constellations that project toward unknown futures. Together, they seek to know more fully what they do not know and to stand in the wonder of that not-knowing.”
For this show, the artists created a “crinkle-crankle” wall, based on ancient Egyptian architecture, using material excavated from SHED’s grounds and building foundation, The curving wall will feature two seats designed to hold two people facing each other while sharing a single space. For those seats will be occupied by harpists Stephan Haluska and Celia van den Bogert, who will perform “Lullaby,” written by Vancouver-based composer Mohammad Motevaselan specifically for the project, based on the artists’ writings. Performances of the piece will take place at 6, 7 and 8pm.
It’s free and open to the public. Go HERE for more information.