Lead designer for Objections exhibition at Liebling Haus, Curator: Sabriba Cegla, 2023. Participants: Susanne Mariacher, Daniel Tchetchik, Zipa Kempinsky, Omer Krieger, Shir Raz, and Elena Stelzer. Designed with Roni Vessely and Guy Levi

The preparation of Tel Aviv’s heritage conservation plan offered a pivotal civic moment, the first of its kind: a meeting between city planners, the staff at the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality, and those who objected to the plan.

The clash and tensions between different stakeholders surrfaced in 2003, the year in which UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) declared the White City a World Heritage Site. It was motivated by different perceptions of private property rights and freedoms, as well as different points of view about the common good and the public interest. It marks a watershed moment of negotiation and discourse on the values, interests, and norms that guide heritage protection and would eventually impact the city’s urban space.

For five months, from September 2022 to February 2023, the participants of the Liebling Haus residency program HaDira – as part of a multidisciplinary study conducted with researchers at the Technion – discussed questions regarding heritage protection and the common good, and concerning the private and public interests.