Rescheduled Open House Jerusalem to launch with several tours related to Oct. 7
Batim Mibifnim was postponed from late October after the Hamas attack; now it will take place over two weekends in April
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Like so many other events, Batim Mibifnim, or Open House Jerusalem, was meant to take place in late October and was postponed after the tragic events of October 7.
It is now rescheduled for two weekends, April 4-6 and 11-13, as the Open House organizers decided with their national and municipal partners that it made sense to go ahead with the event, due to its role in strengthening a sense of belonging and its ability to help small businesses and hotels in Jerusalem.
In addition to the usual tours, Open House Jerusalem is planning three tours that refer to the mourning, displacement and sorrow generated by the Hamas onslaught and ensuing war.
There’s A Jeruz Tour, guided by architect Moshe Shapira, commemorating his son, Aner Shapira, a budding musician, who was killed on October 7 at the Supernova desert rave.
Shapira, a colleague of Open House, will take participants through the city from its center and the historic Bezalel building to the new Bezalel campus, while pointing out historical landmarks and places that Aner loved in his hometown. (April 12, 2 p.m., by reservation only.)
The subject of home and the tenuous situation of the evacuees from the north and south will be addressed in “Silvery Water and Starry Earth,” an exhibit by artist and Be’eri Gallery curator Sofie Berzon MacKie in A Studio of Your Own, a women’s art gallery. (No reservations are required for tours on April 4, 5, 11, 12.)
There’s also Furrow // Hut # Point, a documentation project at research institute Yad Ben Zvi highlighting images and symbols from the northern Negev and Gaza border community landscapes, with works created by artists from the area. (No reservations required, with spots available for first 40 people online on Friday, April 5, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.)
The exhibit includes a journal of paintings inspired by October 7 by Yohanan Druker, a member of Kibbutz Be’eri, and ceramics works that artist Michal Rom salvaged from her home in Kibbutz Re’im.
There will be gallery talks at Yad Ben Zvi, and a farmer’s market with produce for sale from the south, Jordan Valley and north, as well as crafts, coffee and fresh flowers.
There’s also the usual wide range of events, including architecture for architects, with tours of the downtown Jerusalem Arts Campus, the new wing of the Jerusalem High School of the Arts; the new Bezalel campus; and the oddly designed downtown Clal Center.
There are also tours of construction sites, private homes in Yemin Moshe, a 70-meter home off of Emek Refaim, and a redesigned apartment building on Hapalmach Street in Katamon, as well as tours following the plots of favorite books about Jerusalem (think David Grossman), and others about the preservation of urban nature.
Here are a few more to consider:
A graffiti tour of the Talpiot industrial zone shows where the rough cement walls have become canvases for local graffiti artists. A 90-minute evening tour with Jerusalem filmmaker Itzik Yuval offers the opportunity to hear the stories behind the artwork. (April 11, 6 p.m. reservations required.)
There is also a three-hour tour of the streets and houses of the historic Baka neighborhood or a look at five unusual city blocks in Gilo (no reservations required.)
Visitors can gain an impression of Social Space, located in what was once known as the President Hotel, abandoned for some 30 years and now converted into a social and cultural center.
There are behind-the-scenes tours at Shaare Zedek Medical Center and the Jerusalem Aquarium, as well as the new National Library and the Israel Museum, where there will be a special tour of the toy collection.
On the urban nature front, there’s a tour of the flora and fauna in Talbieh’s private gardens, the plans for an urban forest in Zion Square (reservations required), and a look at urban gardening at the Muslala rooftop on the Clal Building.
Information about reservations and tour times can be found on the Open House Jerusalem website.
Open House Jerusalem is inspired by other open house events worldwide, and planned with the Jerusalem and Heritage Ministry, the Jerusalem municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority. Accommodation packages for the event include discounts at local hotels.
