The Nova Exhibition opened this week in London, and CUFI was there on opening day to experience it. The exhibit provides an immersive walk-through experience highlighting the atrocities committed by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, 2023. It was one of multiple massacres perpetrated by Hamas on that tragic day. The exhibit, which is on a world tour, is in London for six weeks, and CUFI recommends everyone take the opportunity to visit.
CUFI’s Alastair Kirk shared what he witnessed at the exhibition:
“Having read, watched and heard testimonies about what took place on October 7th, I was prepared to be impacted. But nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced at this exhibition. It is a harrowing but important record of what took place at the festival on that tragic day, with lessons that the world has not yet fully learned.
“The exhibit begins with a screening of what was happening before the rockets and invasion from Gaza into southern Israel began. Mostly young people (75% of the victims were under 25), dancing, singing, and loving life and freedom. Having the time of their lives, before being abruptly interrupted by the beginnings of what would become the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. We were then taken into a room featuring personal items belonging to the victims; tents, camping equipment, water bottles, clothing, books just as they would have been left. All the items were allowed to be touched and handled. Then I saw a child’s colouring book – partially completed. That hit even harder.
“The collection of items was interspersed with mobile phone handsets that could be picked up and scrolled through with the victim’s last video recordings of the attacks. We walked between scorched vehicles retrieved from the site of the massacre, and a line of yellow portable loos riddled with bullet holes. The items were interspersed with screens showing footage recorded by Hamas terrorists – some from their own cameras and some using their victims’ devices. I wasn’t quite prepared for the intensity of sounds in that room: the shouts of “Allahu Akbar” and other Islamic declarations being screamed by the terrorists on almost every audio clip are something often omitted in news footage. The sounds underscore the evil and brought a chill of fear matched only by the footage itself. It reminded me that this was very much a Jihadist attack. Also striking was that this was very much an antisemitic attack – that perhaps shouldn’t need to be spelled out, but their murderers were clear to identify their victims as “Jews” and not only Israeli.
“The footage did not show scenes of a graphic nature. It didn’t have to. It was shocking enough by simply hearing the testimonies of survivors explaining their ordeals and trying to imagine what they endured. Hearing stories of how they survived by hiding in a fridge or a bin, or by “playing dead” or hiding under a pile of corpses.
“One of the most difficult sections was a reading section on the sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7th. This was displayed in a small conclave with a warning about sensitive content. “The sights I saw there will be engraved in my mind till the end of time,” one civilian rescuer testified. It was harrowing; and I came away feeling that the international condemnation of these sexual crimes has not been enough. That is why the Dinah Project, which was explained in the display, is such an important initiative in recognition and justice for the victims of Conflict Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) on October 7th and afterwards.
“And this leads me to acknowledge why I also feel this exhibit is important. It is not just an immersive experience to educate; it is a vital documentation of the atrocities that took place. In a world of increasing Holocaust denial and the downplaying of October 7th and even its sickening ‘justification’, it is important to establish a record of the horrors so that October 7th is fully recognised and is never forgotten.”
“Perhaps the most impactful moment for me was seeing a long table of shoes left behind by the victims. I couldn’t help but make a comparison to the collection of shoes that I have seen at the Holocaust Museum. There is something very personal and unique about shoes, knowing that they have been worn, and the lump in my throat that I felt when seeing those from the Holocaust, was uncomfortably similar to seeing the spread of shoes from 2023. And herein lay the message that I came away with – never again. Not just as a slogan but with real meaning, never again. This collection had not yet aged or tarnished; the personal items had not been dusted off from a distant era; they were only from 2023. After witnessing the heart-wrenching evidence of the Holocaust previously, I didn’t expect in 2026 to see a collection of personal belongings from Jews that had been massacred from just two years before. But this is the devastating outcome of this vile Jew-hatred. Antisemitism must be confronted, wherever and whenever it exists.
“The exhibition is also a memorial to the 413 people who were murdered at the Nova Music Festival, as well as the 44 that were taken hostage. Hundreds more were injured. The exhibit ends with a memorial gallery of the victims – each with a photo on the wall with candles and messages. It then transitions into an explanation of the community of Nova survivors and their families. It is important to remember that those who survived remain on a journey of recovery. There are 3,710 survivors that have been recognised as victims of acts of hostility, and their plight must not be forgotten.
“If you are a Christian and you are able, try to visit the Nova Exhibition. It is a harrowing but important record of what took place on that tragic day. Go to gain a greater understanding of what took place and consider taking someone with you. Go prepared to learn something new; go to honour the victims of October 7th including survivors, rescuers and those murdered by Hamas. And specially in the current climate of rising antisemitism, go to show solidarity with the Jewish people here in Britain, Israel, and around the world.
CUFI’s Alex Starritt shared his experience:
“Touch is a very powerful thing. Usually when looking at exhibits we see signs that say, “Do Not Touch”. The Nova Festival Exhibition is very different. Instead, we were encouraged to pick up or touch anything we wanted to.
“Another difference for the exhibition is that the objects we are seeing are very familiar to us. I often find it harder to imagine how people would feel in the past because they had different technology and clothing than we do. Here, we were seeing modern camping equipment, current day clothing, everyday items, and devices like mobile phones. These weren’t relics of a bygone era; these were objects we all have in our homes today and use on a daily basis. And every single one of the items was from the Nova Festival, including the sand that we walked on.
“The hands on feel of the displays was very powerful. At first, I thought I would just observe; like in other exhibitions. I didn’t think I needed to touch anything. Then I knelt down, picked up a mobile phone that was resting on top of a beach bag, unlocked the phone and started scrolling the pictures. There were pictures of their life before, including selfies, and videos of the joy of the Nova festival before the attack. The last video on the device recorded was a first person perspective of their final moments just before they were murdered at the hands of Hamas. Holding the actual phone of a victim and watching their final video unlocked something within me. Before long I was touching many more objects. The dust covered tents, the brightly coloured clothes hanging on makeshift washing lines, an empty bottle. I had previously seen videos of terrorists shooting into porter loos where victims were trying to hide. Now I was touching the very bullet holes that killed their victims inside. The burnt out cars that we are all familiar seeing in the aftermath of the Nova massacre were now something I could touch and feel and inspect closely.
“As someone who has the privilege of standing with Israel for my job, I have seen and heard and read so much about October 7th. I have documented Hamas’s atrocities for my work here at CUFI and I’ve been to memorial events, marches, and vigils. I was even invited by the Israeli Embassy in London to watch the IDF’s private video documenting Hamas’s atrocities. All of these things were impactful in different ways, but this exhibition gave me a real sense of connection to the victims of October 7th, which is much more meaningful than I thought it could be.”
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For details about how to visit the Nova Exhibition, click here.
