Nivi Lehavi

Department: Social Design
Website: www.nivilehavi.com

To Hear a Wall

What: A piece of the Separation Wall in East Jerusalem that travels the world to increase recognition, resonating the sound from both sides.

Why: Studying life around the wall, Nivi Lehavi discovered that it is possible to hear each other when standing on either side, through the gaps between the construction units. This encouraged her to observe this barrier as a space of its own, where opposite voices merge. She collected the ‘sound of the wall’ by planting a recording device in one of its gaps.

How: This mobile replica of a concrete unit distributes that sound in contexts outside of Jerusalem. It prompts recognition of the wall’s existence and imparts a different perception of the complex situation that borders represent.

“Can people live in a city with a massive concrete border without seeing it?”