The Nova Music Festival Exhibition, a sprawling display that includes artifacts, multimedia, testimony and live presentations from survivors of the site of the single largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust, will be presented in Boston from Sept. 26 to Oct. 21.

The exhibit focuses on the Nova music festival – a three-day trance event that drew over 4,000 to the site of Kibbutz Re’eim – a southern Israel collective which sits on the Gaza border.

On the last morning of the concert, Oct. 7, 2023, thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed Israel’s border. Over 1,200 were murdered that day by Hamas, and thousands were injured. At the Nova festival, more than 400 were massacred, and over 50 were taken hostage to Gaza. To date, 20 are still being held by Hamas and just 10 are believed to be alive.

“The story of the Nova Music Festival is one of strength, resilience and community,” said Omri Sassi, a cofounder and coproducer of the Nova Music Festival.

“The Nova community is centered around light, and now more than ever, we need to continue to spread that message,” added Ofir Amir, a cofounder and coproducer of the Nova Music Festival. “It is important, as part of our core values, that we take care of our community, help lead in the rehabilitation of the Nova survivors, and make our voices heard to the whole world.”

Amir, who lives north of Tel Aviv, had helped produce 15 shows with his partners prior to the Nova event. He said the Nova festival was the largest ever and was set to conclude just before the attack. Amir was at the site of the massacre on Oct. 7 at 6:29 a.m., when Hamas began firing thousands of missiles into Israel. As terrorists overran the site and slaughtered people who had come to dance, Amir hopped into a car stuffed with millennials seeking to escape. But a group of Hamas terrorists began shooting at the car, and Amir realized a bullet was lodged in his leg. He lay in a field for hours bleeding before he was rescued.

Just a couple of months after the attack, Amir and his coproducers decided to hold an exhibit in Tel Aviv that featured thousands of items that were left at the Nova site after the attack. Over 100,000 Israelis attended the exhibit and witnessed the destruction – and the humanity. There was the canopy of the Nova festival where thousands had gathered to dance, and the remains of charred cars that had been targeted by rocket-propelled grenades. Tents, chairs, cellphones, wallets, hats, shoes, keychains and neatly folded clothing sat on tables that lined an entire wall. Nearby, stood bullet-ridden portable toilets and empty bottles on a bar. Throughout, multimedia screens glowed with smiling faces who are no longer.

Since then, Amir and his coproducers decided to bring the exhibit abroad. To date, the exhibit has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Buenos Aires and most recently, Toronto. The current exhibit also features video testimony from those who were able to escape, and a “Healing Room,” where the public will be able to meet and talk to survivors and family members of survivors.

After Wendy and Dan Kraft saw the exhibit in New York last year, they decided to form a group to help raise the funds to bring it to Boston. “The Nova Exhibition is a powerful symbol of resilience and remembrance, especially as we approach the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks,” said Wendy Kraft.

Dan Kraft hopes the exhibit will shine a light on the real events and atrocities that occurred on Oct. 7. “I hope people are educated and that they will understand the facts around 10/7. Innocent civilians were at a concert for peace and love and were gunned down by terrorists,” said Kraft, president of The Kraft Group-International.

“As we approach the second anniversary of 10/7, we’re honored to have the Nova Exhibition here in Boston. The exhibit is a powerful reminder of the innocent lives lost that day, and also of the inspiring spirit and resilience of the survivors and their family members who have cared for one another in the face of incredible loss,” said Rabbi Marc Baker, president and CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies. “We are grateful to the many friends and allies who have helped bring the exhibit here and stood with the Jewish community in its most vulnerable time.”

Debbie Shalom, a past regional chair of the Anti-Defamation League, said she was proud to help sponsor the Nova exhibit. “You cannot turn away – everyone must experience this and educate those about the horrific events that happened on 10/7 and also how alone Israel and the Jewish community felt when the world turned against us on 10/8,” she said.

“Once you experience it you cannot unsee it. It stays with you forever. The stories of the survivors will never leave you. Their spirit to heal and rebuild their lives is inspirational. Supporting the future of Israel is tantamount to our Jewish survival.”

Matthew Swartz, president of the board of overseers of the Jewish Journal of Greater Boston, also helped sponsor the exhibit. “I hope people will attend – especially non-Jewish youth and students from local universities who want to learn the reality of what really happened on Oct. 7,” he said.

The exhibit will be held at the former FW Webb Building, 307 Dorchester Ave., in Boston. Amir said people should plan to spend up to 90 minutes at the exhibit and recommended the exhibit for people 16 and over. Organizers expect elected officials, law enforcement, clergy, university and high school students as well as the wider community to attend. The exhibit will run seven days a week and will be closed on Oct. 2 for the Yom Kippur holiday. Tickets can be purchased online from novaexhibition.com. Amir said security is in place for the exhibit.

Amir and his partners have also created the Tribe of Nova Foundation to provide assistance to those impacted by the massacre. Services include establishing a community home to support the survivors, medical treatments, yoga workshops, music therapy, long-term rehabilitation and creating a project on the festival site to tell the story of the massacre.
For more on the exhibit, and tickets, visit novaexhibition.com/boston-exhibition.