Peres Center to Host Memorial Exhibition Marking Three Years Since October 7
The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation will host "The Space Left Behind" memorial exhibition ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7 attacks, featuring personal items and immersive installations.
Ahead of the third anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attacks, the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation will host a unique memorial exhibition titled "The Space Left Behind." Organized by the October Council in partnership with the Peres Center, the eight-day exhibition will feature dozens of personal items belonging to murder victims, fallen soldiers, hostages, and envelope-region residents.
Rather than a distant museum collection, the display serves as a living testimony to lives that existed just moments prior: a beret, a football jersey, a camera, a musical instrument, sneakers, a surfboard, a motorcycle helmet, a scarf, toys, letters, and clothing recovered from homes, military bases, and families. Among the items are the beret of the late Roni Eshel, the balance bike of the late Ariel Bibas, the Maccabi Haifa scarf of the late Lior Traschansky, and the camera of Yedioth Ahronoth photographer Roee Idan.
Memorial Installations and Personal Accounts
The exhibition courtyard will feature the yellow shelter container from the Nova music festival, where 17 partygoers hid for four hours under trash bags before terrorists murdered nine of them. The container will recreate the exact positions of each individual alongside the final messages sent to their families. Another section, titled "The Moment Before," presents authentic videos of everyday life in the hours preceding the massacre.
"The exhibition seeks to restore for a moment not only the impending terror, but also the freedom, joy, and life that existed there beforehand."
Additional installations include a tribute to border military outposts featuring a "sticker serenade" canvas, accompanied by the voice of Karina Ariev, a surveillance observer who was abducted on October 7 and released after 477 days in captivity. A profoundly moving display dedicated to the children of October 7 features a playground setting with 44 handcrafted clay stars, representing each murdered child.
Exhibition Details and Schedule
The journey concludes with a symbol of renewal: the original Israeli flags draped around freed hostages Matan Zangauker and Matan Angrest upon their release from captivity. Curated by Emek Kedar-Gomez and initiated by Ofri Bibas-Levy, the exhibition will run from October 4 to October 10 at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa.
