Cleaner Cleaning A Banister 

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2022 ​

Craft and Leisure 

Curator: Galit Gaon 
Co-curator: Hadassa Cohen 

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The Old City Hall, )also known as 'Sakura House' after its original developer and owner(, was built in 1925 as a luxurious hotel. Its owner sought to establish a grand building in the heart of the young city, Tel Aviv, atop a hill along a main axis leading to Bialik Street and the square. Its facade was designed as an iconic image that would be etched in memory. However, an economic crisis that occurred that same year led to a change in the building’s purpose, resulting in its lease to the Tel Aviv Municipality. The building served as the city's municipal headquarters from 1926 to 1965 and became one of the most representative landmarks in the country, along with the adjacent square, "the stage of civic theater." 

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My work humorously examines the gap between the intended purpose, grandeur, and aristocratic elegance envisioned by the building’s owner and its final use as City Hall—a municipal office building for public services. 

The placement of this work in the stairwell is no coincidence. In fact, this is the only space that has remained true to its original design, where hotel guests and municipal visitors might have once crossed paths. The staircase splits symmetrically, protected by a wrought-iron railing, curving and lined with a wooden handrail. The work presents a cleaning action that occurs without human touch—mechanically and automatically. A robotic cleaner for railings performs the task, allowing for idleness. The brush moving along the wooden handrail traces the daily cleaning actions carried out by countless workers since the building’s establishment, and will likely continue as long as the structure stands.