Art Works

Optimal
Optimism

Jerusalem Design Week 2018

In a group exhibition called “Pro-Jerusalem”, which is a part of 2018 Jerusalem Design Week, various artists were asked to provide a new interpretation to regulations formulated at the beginning of the last century, by the “Association for Jerusalem”, founded by the British Commissioner, Ronald Stores, for the future of Jerusalem. 

My task was to address posters hung around the city, showcasing the new municipal by-laws. The posters were written in four languages: Hebrew, English, French, and Arabic. One hundred years after the local government in Jerusalem corresponded with its citizens through posters, which were distributed in the urban space, I decided to become a creator, and transfer the power to the people.

The medium is not the message, nor the essence. It is a functional tool. A century later, the nostalgic power of these posters has changed, and they have become three-dimensional. They have become stencil boards, through which you can continue to replicate an infinity of messages. Jerusalem is not only a city of history, heritage, buildings, nature and ornamentation – it is a city of people. An endless mosaic of minorities. The regulations of the past, drafted by the association, are intended to shape the new Jerusalem, the Jerusalem of the future – a manifesto that seeks to redefine a city. But over time the city became lost, and ceased to be a city of the people. One hundred years later, I chose to reformulate the manifesto. This time, the people are at the center, along with their rights, dignity, and values.