62 When Was the Division Conceived?

How does an arbitrary division of a city become a ‘fact of nature’? Is it possible that the accepted distinction between ‘east’ and ‘west’ in Jerusalem is not merely a geographical fact, but also the product of an urban fantasy that has been set in stone? This journey that relies on Jerusalem archives, led by the town planner Dr. Noa Heisler, will include familiar sites such as the new Bezalel campus, the Musrara/Morasha neighborhood, the Notre Dame Guest House, New Gate, Mamilla and Nahalat Shiva. She will revisit the stories behind the division of the city and how different perceptions of a modern space were formed as opposed to an ancient space, a space designated a historical landmark as opposed to a space designated for urban development, a Palestinian space as opposed to an Israeli one, and how the urban landscape has been designed in practice, starting in the Ottoman period and up to the present day.

The two-hour tours are based on findings from joint research conducted by the School of Architecture and the Department of Visual Communication at Bezalel, together with the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for Digital Humanities at the Hebrew University.  The research examined thousands of curated maps, photographs and documents that were cataloged into a work that creates a ‘supplementary Jerusalem archive.’