Jessica Steinberg covers the Sabra level from south to north and from the center.
Israel’s first wax museum of Sabrian-exclusive personalities was eerily silent, terrifying and empty on a recent Monday afternoon.
“The Select Few” is the call given to this exhibition of 50 wax replicas through prominent Israelis, such as famed journalist Guy Pines, singing diva Rita, and former President Reuven Rivlin, who find themselves (or sitting) with awkward attention, frozen in their positions. .
The museum, located at the far end of the first ground of the Herzliya Arena grocery shopping mall, opened in early October. No merit: Some of the wax figurines resemble his human originals, however, many celebrity sculptures are harder, if not, to recognize.
In fact, singer Sarit Haddad didn’t like her figure’s face in the first place, and she was sent back to China for checkups.
The carving of the figures was reportedly a three-year procedure performed by 16 Chinese sculptors and an Israeli sculptor in China based on images of their subjects.
The heads are carved in wax, over the course of at least 14 months, according to the museum’s texts. The eyebrows can require up to 8 hours of work, while a full head of hair can take about 60 hours.
The bodies were made of fiberglass, molded to look like the user in question, but they all appear to be the same size.
In short, it’s Madame Tussauds.
A data wall at the end of the exhibition explained that celebrities were selected thinking that young people were the main visitors to the mall’s museum.
The creators of the museum made their possible options with young people interested in Larger Than Life, a nonprofit that serves young people with cancer, which will earn income from the museum’s profits.
And indeed, there were numbers that were absolutely alien to this middle-aged journalist who doesn’t spend time on TikTok and rarely watches Israeli children’s shows.
Visitors can identify and be more informed through an app created by the museum, with QR codes on the walls next to the character.
Unfortunately, the app didn’t work for my iPhone purchased in the US. In the US, so be careful, it may not work on non-Israeli phones.
However, with a little maneuver, I was able to Google each character and discern their identity and sometimes what achievement made them eligible for exposure.
In addition to Pines, Rivlin and Rita, the galleries come with sculptures through Eyal Kitzis from the satirical show “Eretz Nehederet”, former musical duo Static and Ben-El (Tavori), former Maccabi basketball coach David Blatt and American basketball player Tal Brody, children animator Yuval Hamebulbal, gymnast Linoy Ashram, Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon and many others.
The end of the exhibition takes visitors to a video showing the museum’s creation, but those hoping for a more detailed presentation of how wax figures are cast and carved will likely be disappointed. The clip shows more time showing the preparation of the Arena. Rear quarters of the mall, adding the placement of glossy black vinyl used as flooring.
The exit gate sends visitors back to the eerily quiet Herzliya Arena mall, which lacks many of Israel’s more family-friendly chain stores. Luckily, it’s directly on Herzliya Marina, with the stretch of coastline just a few minutes’ walk away.
Tickets for “The Select Few” can be obtained on the museum’s website, which also includes links to download the app, to use when visiting the museum. Tickets cost NIS 119 when purchased in advance and NIS 149 at the mall box office.
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