39 Culture Mile

A tour that puts a spotlight on Teddy Kollek’s flagship project in Jerusalem – Culture Mile – which aspired to transform Jerusalem’s image from a provincial and conservative city to a universal city synonymous with high culture. The goal was to be achieved by founding dozens of cultural institutions and enterprises throughout the city, and especially along the route that runs between Zahal Square, the Valley of Hinnom and the Jerusalem Theatre. That route was subsequently called the Culture Mile of Jerusalem and included, among other places, Hutzot HaYotzer (the Artists’ Colony), Mishkenot Sha’ananim, the Jerusalem Cinematheque, the Khan, and Liberty Bell Park. Kollek managed to establish a number of important and seminal institutions in the city, but the Mile also came with a cost – namely, the destruction of existing urban fabrics and the exclusion of local cultures. This tour will be led by Dr. Marik Shtern, an urban-political geographer who heads the Urbanism, Space, and Society Studies in the Department of Architecture at SCE – Sami Shamoon College of Engineering. Among the questions that will be examined: Was the attempt to alter Jerusalem’s DNA a success? What is left of Culture Mile? What can it teach us about Kollek’s Jerusalem and contemporary Jerusalem?

The tour will end at Liberty Bell Park.