Hundreds of Israeli redheads gathered in the Gan HaMuzeon’s Museum of Comics and Caricature in Holon in central Israel Saturday morning to mark the opening of the “Fifty Shades of Fire” exposition.
The opening of the photography exposition, which features the work of Sharon Halabi, became the center of a ‘ginger festival’, celebrating the expo’s focus on Israeli redheads. Three hundred Israeli redheads were photographed for the exposition, after Halabi used her Facebook account to get in contact with as many local ‘gingers’ as possible.
“Gingers…many, many gingers came to the ‘Israeli Ginger Festival’, held here in Holon,” a Holon community Facebook page reported Saturday night.
“As part the festival, the ‘Fifty Shades of Fire’ exposition was opened, featuring the photography of Sharon Halabi and the (redheaded) curator Ilana Carmeli Lenner.”
Halabi says the inspiration behind the projection came when a redhead family came to her studio for photographs.
After sending out a call for local redheads interested in being photographed for the expo, Halabi says she was inundated with requests.
“All of the sudden, a ton of [people] came. It was amazing,” Halabi told Yediot Ahronot.
“I decided not to put up any limits. Whoever comes, welcome – so long as you’re a redhead. I didn’t just pick models – there was a two-month old baby, an older woman whose age I didn’t ask; men, women, parents, families – a long chain of redheads.”
Of the hundreds of pictures Halabi took, about 40 were chosen for the expo.
In August 2014, the first “Ginger Conference” was held in Kibbutz Gezer [Literally, Carrot Kibbutz].
Two hundred people from across the country took part in the event, though nearly 1,000 expressed an interest in attending. Due to restrictions imposed by the Home Front Command during the ongoing conflict with Hamas in August 2014, attendance was restricted to those who registered in advance.
Attendees at the 2014 event cited a number of reasons for participating in the conference, ranging from overcoming social stigmas to finding a redheaded spouse, Al Monitor reported.