We are currently closed for the summer!
We are currently closed for the summer!
SHED Projects:
visual culture and
experimental projects
Upcoming Exhibitions
Upcoming Exhibitions
Zawj | زوج
Yasmeen Nematt Alla & Jillian Blackwell
Saturday, August 1, 2026 | 5–9 PM
Performances at 6 PM, 7 PM, and 8 PM
SHED Projects returns from its summer hiatus with Zawj | زوج, a one-night collaborative installation and performance by artists Yasmeen Nematt Alla and Jillian Blackwell.
Developed over the past two years through SHED's 2024 LAND Open Call, Zawj | زوج reflects the organization's commitment to slowing down the artistic process, allowing ideas to evolve through long-term research, collaboration, and conversation.
Drawing inspiration from the ancient Egyptian crinkle-crankle wall, the artists will construct a site-responsive sculpture using material excavated from the grounds and foundation of SHED. The resulting form becomes both architecture and gathering place, culminating in two conversation chairs that will host live performances of Lullaby, an original composition by Mohammad Motevaselan performed by harpists Stephan Haluska and Celia van den Bogert.
Named after the Arabic word and slang for "pairs," Zawj | زوج considers time as a boundary, portal, river, and loop. Through sculpture, sound, language, and performance, the artists explore repetition, translation, memory, and the ways we inherit gestures, voices, and histories from those who came before us.
Presented for one evening only, Zawj | زوج blurs the distinctions between exhibition, performance, and conversation while opening SHED's 2026 fall season.
SHORT CUTS 2026
Oct. 1 - Oct. 4, 2026
SHORT CUTS is an international short film festival produced by SHED Projects centering experimental, artist-made moving image works five minutes and under. Founded in 2023 and previously hosted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the festival will continue and expand in Cleveland in Fall 2026.
The festival prioritizes formally adventurous, non-commercial work that often exists outside traditional film circuits, including experimental narrative, documentary, animation, moving-image art, and interdisciplinary practices. By focusing on brevity, SHORT CUTS creates an accessible entry point for audiences while offering filmmakers thoughtful contextualization and meaningful visibility.
The public screening will take place at the Cleveland Cinematheque at the Cleveland Institute of Art, culminating in an approximately two-hour curated screening program followed by filmmaker conversations and community gatherings.
SHORT CUTS 2026 jurors are Lilan Yang, Janelle VanderKelen, and Gabrielle Banzhaf. Together, their practices span experimental film, installation, education, moving-image art, and artist-led curatorial work.
SHORT CUTS 2026 is supported in part by Neighbor Up.
