Israel’s ‘Select Few’ carved in wax in 1st local exhibit of its kind
A three-year process to create a wax museum of Israeli celebs, entertainers and A-listers produces an eerie collection of replicas
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Israel’s first wax museum of sabra-only personalities was eerily silent, creepy and rather empty on a recent Monday afternoon.
“The Select Few” is the name given to this exhibit of 50 wax replicas of famous Israelis, such as celebrity reporter Guy Pines, diva singer Rita and former president Reuven Rivlin, standing (or seated) at awkward attention, frozen into their positions.
The museum, situated on the far end of the first floor of the Herzliya Arena Mall, opened at the beginning of October. So far, it’s faced some mockery online and in the media for what some say is insufficient realism in the figures, and not without merit: Some of the wax figurines bear a similarity to their human originals, but many of the celebrity sculptures are tougher, even impossible to recognize.
In fact, singer Sarit Haddad reportedly did not initially like the face on her figurine, and it was sent back to China for revisions.
Carving the figures was reportedly a three-year process undertaken by 16 Chinese sculptors and one Israeli in China based on photos of their subjects.
The heads are sculpted from wax, reportedly over the course of at least 14 months, according to the museum texts. Eyebrows can take up to eight hours of work, while a full head of hair can require some 60 hours.
The bodies were made from fiberglass, ostensibly molded to look like the person in question, but they all appear to be the same size.
In short, this is no Madame Tussauds.
An informational wall at the end of the exhibit explained that the celebrities were chosen with an eye toward kids being the main visitors to the mall-based museum.
The museum creators made their choices with help from children involved in Larger Than Life, a nonprofit that assists children suffering from cancer, which will receive a proceed of the museum’s profits.
And in fact, there were some figures that were completely foreign to this middle-aged reporter who doesn’t spend time on TikTok and rarely watches Israeli kids’ shows.
Visitors can identify and learn more through an app created by the museum, with QR codes on the walls next to each figure.
Unfortunately, the app didn’t work for my US-purchased iPhone, so be warned, it may not work on non-Israeli phones.
With a little maneuvering, however, I was able to Google each figure and discern their identities and, sometimes, what accomplishment made them eligible for the exhibit.
Besides Pines, Rivlin and Rita, the galleries include sculptures of the “Eretz Nehederet” TV satire show’s Eyal Kitzis, former musical duo Static and Ben-El (Tavori), former Maccabi basketball coach David Blatt and US-born basketball player Tal Brody, children’s entertainer Yuval Hamebulbal, gymnast Linoy Ashram, the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, and a host of others.
The end of the exhibition brings visitors to a video showcasing the making of the museum but those hoping for a more in-depth display of how wax figures are poured and sculpted may be disappointed. The clip spends more time showing the preparation of the back rooms of the Arena Mall, including the laying out the shiny black vinyl used as flooring.
The exit door spits visitors back into the strangely silent Herzliya Arena mall, which lacks many of the more familiar Israeli chain stores. Luckily it’s situated right on the Herzliya marina, with the stretch of the coastline just a few minutes’ walk away.
Tickets for “The Select Few” are available through the museum website, which also has links to download the app, recommended for use during a tour of the museum. Tickets cost NIS 119 when purchased beforehand and NIS 149 at the ticket box office in the mall.
