Jale Kuşhan Balmumu Heykel Müzesi

How Did the Idea of the Wax Sculpture Museum Come About? Let us learn from the account of its founder, Jale Kuşhan.

"I am a graduate of the A. Ü. Department of Geophysical Engineering. While working at a construction company in Istanbul, I noticed that there was a need for qualified human resources who knew Russian due to our rapidly increasing commercial, cultural, economic and tourism-based relations with Russia and the former Eastern Bloc countries. Thereupon, I took unpaid leave from the company I was working for and enrolled in the Russian Language Department of the Polytechnic University in the city of Odessa, Ukraine. In those days, production had stopped in Russia. Everything was being brought from abroad. When I returned to Turkey, I began to receive requests, especially regarding construction materials, primarily construction machinery, cafe equipment, etc. In 1997, I founded my own company and started exporting.

In 1999, I participated in the international machinery fair held in the city of St. Petersburg. While visiting the city’s cultural and artistic venues outside working hours, I had the opportunity to visit the wax sculpture museum, and I was very impressed while touring the museum. I knew that there was no such museum in our country, and when I spoke with the museum officials, I learned that they could open exhibitions abroad if there was demand. Thereupon, I took the initiative to realize a first in our country. After learning the conditions from the museum officials, I took loans from three banks and brought to Turkey 34 wax sculptures belonging to great figures of the world by renting them in order to exhibit them in our country for three months. At that time, the public in Turkey did not know what wax sculpture art was. It was necessary to make a great effort for promotion. I was having difficulty finding an exhibition space. On the other hand, since I had brought the exhibition to Turkey temporarily, when the extension periods obtained from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism expired, I spoke with the museum officials. Thereupon, by making payments as if paying rent, I purchased the 34 sculptures from the St. Petersburg Museum.

I began to have sculptures made of great Turkish figures, especially Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The number of sculptures, which reached 60 within 11 years, continues to increase, and names from Turkish and world history continue to be added to the museum. In order to introduce this art to the public, we opened 50 exhibitions in 26 cities in 11 years. As a result of these efforts, awareness of wax sculpture art has been created among the public. While this situation is positive in terms of bringing the museum together with the public, on the other hand it creates problems in terms of the sensitivity of the sculptures. No matter how much care is taken, the sculptures can be damaged during constant transportation. For this reason, from time to time I receive training in the maintenance, repair and makeup of the sculptures. My goal is to establish in Istanbul a permanent Wax Sculpture Museum of worldwide standing, featuring 100 famous figures from great Turkish and world figures, with firsts in the world, to represent our country in the best way by occasionally opening exhibitions abroad, and also to provide the opportunity for wax sculpture artists to be trained in the workshop that can be established within the museum."

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