For most of its 18 years, the upscale Alrov Mamilla Avenue (Mamilla Mall) has placed sculptures along its 610-meter shopping and leisure promenade linking modern and ancient Jerusalem.
The avenue has evolved into an open-air gallery, showcasing sculptural works and facilitating sales to passersby who may be captivated by a piece displayed outside the mall’s 100-plus shops and eateries.
Michal Sadan, the mall’s curator for the past year, explained that some 50 sculptors are invited to have three of their creations displayed for a year, from February to February, for a modest fee covering insurance and marketing.
That translates to an estimated 150 sculptures seen by roughly 100,000 people walking through Mamilla every month.
The largest platform
“Mamilla is the largest platform for exhibiting sculptures in the country. No other outdoor mall has an ongoing exhibition like this, and no other place has such a variety of Israeli art,” she said.
Tourists and residents alike enjoy taking selfies beside larger pieces such as Lior Zada’s blue-and-white fiberglass lion and camel, Lev Abramzon’s soaring shiny cello, or Eli Cohen’s kinetic American/Israeli flag with multiple viewing angles.
Many of the works in this year’s cohort are figurative or abstract representations of the human body, but the mall’s rules prohibit nudity. Sadan meets with a committee headed by a rabbi to ensure that none of the sculptures would offend Jewish, Christian, or Muslim visitors.
Creative touches added for modesty often turn out as enhancements, such as the flowing fabric and acrylic red dress adorning Dina Babay’s bronze dancer.
Other artists display unusual items. Dror Pravda fires pottery underground to create an ancient-looking effect. Antiquarian Sami Taha makes blown Hebron glass pieces. Model ships by Amnon Shemesh, exhibited in glass boxes, always attract attention. Replicas of a marble dove by Jerusalem sculptor Daniel Kafri, who passed away in March 2024, were gifted to several US presidents by Israeli leaders.
Curated collection catalog
Most of the pieces in the 2025 collection, titled On the Wings of Hope, are pictured in a glossy catalog. Each sculpture bears a bronze plate with the artist’s name and Sadan’s phone number for inquiries.
“The sculptures on display… reflect a dynamic spectrum of voices and artistic languages,” Sadan wrote in the catalog. “These annual exhibitions have become a significant cultural landmark, fostering direct dialogue between Israeli artists and the diverse public that visits the promenade.”
A Jerusalem resident, Sadan has curated more than 1,000 Israeli art exhibitions over the last 35 years and works with many painters and sculptors in a publicity capacity. She was therefore an obvious choice to replace the previous Mamilla curator, Tsipi Vital, who retired last year.
Sadan credits the developer of the Alrov Mamilla Avenue project, Alfred Akirov of the Alrov Group, and architect Moshe Safdie, for envisioning this attractive promenade whose walls are lined with numbered stones salvaged from the neglected structures of old Mamilla.
“As a girl, I walked with my parents on those ruins, and I wrote a paper about the Mamilla neighborhood in high school, so it’s very moving for me to come full circle,” Sadan recounted.
Diverse disciplines displayed
Alrov Group CEO Shmuel Ben Moshe gave Sadan a free hand to expand and diversify the collection. He said the artworks enhance the mall’s position as “a very special place connecting the old and new city, connecting visitors from Israel and abroad. It’s not only a beautiful, clean atmosphere in which to shop and eat; the creativity, soul, and spirit of the art on the avenue add to the fun and enjoyment.”
Sadan gave the stage to many disciplines – ceramics, glass, bronze, iron, tin, brass, marble, papier-mâché, plaster, fiberglass, cement, polymer – and invited artists from the periphery, such as Ma’alot, Kiryat Bialik, Beersheba, and Ashdod, in addition to the artists from central Israel.
In the mall’s indoor space, Sadan set up a gallery and social space displaying works by lesser-known or up-and-coming artists.
“There’s a small indoor area inside the mall, like a mall inside the mall, and it looked so empty,” the curator recounted. “I said, ‘This mall needs an art exhibition.’ And the management agreed. We invested in podiums, and here we host single exhibitions.”
Sadan themes these two-month indoor exhibitions according to seasons and holidays.
Until September 15, the theme is trees, drawing on the phrase K’etz shatul al mayim (“Like a tree planted near water”) from the beginning of Psalms (1:3). After that, a display of ceramic animals will usher visitors into the time of year when we remember Noah’s ark.
The main exhibition’s theme, on the wings of hope, is intended to impart a visual sense of hope, unity, and healing.
Sadan noted that the collection includes three interpretations of the yellow ribbon symbol of the hostages.
“Through art that is both accessible and emotionally resonant, we aspire to uplift spirits and foster resilience,” the creative curator concluded.