Celebrities in Wax
Published on | Source
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
It isn't often that you get the chance to meet with and take photographs of a big star like Jennifer Lopez or local heartthrob Bae Yong-joon. So most people would jump at the chance to stand in the company of more than 100 movie stars and world-renowned leaders.
A new exhibit opening at the Convention and Exhibition (COEX) Center in Samsong-dong on Dec. 21 will let you do just that. Just don't ask them for their autographs.
The exhibition, called "World Wax Museum", will display 115 lifelike wax figures of local and international actors, musicians, athletes, politicians and others.
"People want to meet the stars", said Jung Won-jik, a planning team manager at Miracle Sports and Entertainment of Korea, the organizer of the exhibition. "But it's not easy to actually meet them. So wax figures can give a sense of vicarious satisfaction".
The beauty of wax figures lies in the delicate creation of actual stars' appearances, which can capture their characteristics, and as the technology has developed, wax figures have become more like their originals, Jung added.
About 80 items to be displayed at the exhibition were lent by the Movieland Wax Museum, the largest wax museum in the United States, for the first time.
It usually takes six months for an artisan to complete a wax figure, and each costs around 60 million won to 100 million won due to their scarcity.
But according to Jung, the value skyrockets up to 1 billion won as many of the clothes and accessories on figures were donated by the stars or their studios to put more realistic touches on the figures.
In addition to figures from the Movieland Wax Museum, new wax figures of Korean stars will be also displayed, which were made by Japanese wax figure artisan Satoru Mazusaki.
The exhibition consists of seven sections in such categories as history, movie, pop and sports.
In the "Classic Movie Stars Pavilion", visitors can see the legendary film stars such as Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable from the 1939 classic "Gone With the Wind"; Omar Sharif from the 1965 romance "Doctor Zhivago"; and Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr from the 1956 musical "The King and I" and "Ben Hur".
In addition, movie sets that were used along with the characters at the Movieland Wax Museum will help create nostalgic scenes in the classics.
For younger movie fans, figures of such Hollywood stars as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta Jones and Johnny Depp are also on display in the section titled "Hollywood Superstars Pavilion".
In "Recording Stars Pavilion", figures of Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and John Lennon as well as local pop stars such as Lee Seung-chul, Seo Taiji, BoA and Chae Yeon are exhibited.
Local singer Rain's figure has a heart-beat machine on his chest to give a more realistic impression.
The "Korean Stars Pavilion" displays one of the highlights at the exhibition _ wax figures of leading stars in "hallyu", or Korean wave such as Bae Yong-joon, Ahn Jae-wook and Sol Kyung-gu.
Other wax figures include former South Korean presidents Park Chung-hee and Kim Dae-jung, scientists Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison and painter Pablo Picasso in the section of "Historic Figures Pavilion" and world-class golfer Tiger Woods, English footballer David Beckham and South Korean footballers Park Ji-sung and Park Joo-young in the section of "Sports Stars Pavilion".
After the exhibition closes at the end of March, the organizer says it plans to build the world's biggest wax museum in Pusan.
Exhibit Shows Everything About Barbie
World Wax Museum
When: From Dec. 21 to the end of March
Where: COEX in southern Seoul, near exit 5 from Samsong Station on subway line 2
How much: 10,000 won to 16,000 won
Info: (02) 562-8153 or visit http://www.worldwaxmuseum.net
Staff Reporter
It isn't often that you get the chance to meet with and take photographs of a big star like Jennifer Lopez or local heartthrob Bae Yong-joon. So most people would jump at the chance to stand in the company of more than 100 movie stars and world-renowned leaders.
A new exhibit opening at the Convention and Exhibition (COEX) Center in Samsong-dong on Dec. 21 will let you do just that. Just don't ask them for their autographs.
The exhibition, called "World Wax Museum", will display 115 lifelike wax figures of local and international actors, musicians, athletes, politicians and others.
"People want to meet the stars", said Jung Won-jik, a planning team manager at Miracle Sports and Entertainment of Korea, the organizer of the exhibition. "But it's not easy to actually meet them. So wax figures can give a sense of vicarious satisfaction".
The beauty of wax figures lies in the delicate creation of actual stars' appearances, which can capture their characteristics, and as the technology has developed, wax figures have become more like their originals, Jung added.
About 80 items to be displayed at the exhibition were lent by the Movieland Wax Museum, the largest wax museum in the United States, for the first time.
It usually takes six months for an artisan to complete a wax figure, and each costs around 60 million won to 100 million won due to their scarcity.
But according to Jung, the value skyrockets up to 1 billion won as many of the clothes and accessories on figures were donated by the stars or their studios to put more realistic touches on the figures.
In addition to figures from the Movieland Wax Museum, new wax figures of Korean stars will be also displayed, which were made by Japanese wax figure artisan Satoru Mazusaki.
The exhibition consists of seven sections in such categories as history, movie, pop and sports.
In the "Classic Movie Stars Pavilion", visitors can see the legendary film stars such as Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable from the 1939 classic "Gone With the Wind"; Omar Sharif from the 1965 romance "Doctor Zhivago"; and Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr from the 1956 musical "The King and I" and "Ben Hur".
In addition, movie sets that were used along with the characters at the Movieland Wax Museum will help create nostalgic scenes in the classics.
For younger movie fans, figures of such Hollywood stars as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta Jones and Johnny Depp are also on display in the section titled "Hollywood Superstars Pavilion".
In "Recording Stars Pavilion", figures of Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and John Lennon as well as local pop stars such as Lee Seung-chul, Seo Taiji, BoA and Chae Yeon are exhibited.
Local singer Rain's figure has a heart-beat machine on his chest to give a more realistic impression.
The "Korean Stars Pavilion" displays one of the highlights at the exhibition _ wax figures of leading stars in "hallyu", or Korean wave such as Bae Yong-joon, Ahn Jae-wook and Sol Kyung-gu.
Other wax figures include former South Korean presidents Park Chung-hee and Kim Dae-jung, scientists Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison and painter Pablo Picasso in the section of "Historic Figures Pavilion" and world-class golfer Tiger Woods, English footballer David Beckham and South Korean footballers Park Ji-sung and Park Joo-young in the section of "Sports Stars Pavilion".
After the exhibition closes at the end of March, the organizer says it plans to build the world's biggest wax museum in Pusan.
Exhibit Shows Everything About Barbie
World Wax Museum
When: From Dec. 21 to the end of March
Where: COEX in southern Seoul, near exit 5 from Samsong Station on subway line 2
How much: 10,000 won to 16,000 won
Info: (02) 562-8153 or visit http://www.worldwaxmuseum.net
Advertisement