TORONTO — Charred cars, bullet-ridden bathroom stalls and abandoned tents, backpacks and toothbrushes from the site of the Nova Music Festival massacre will be put on display in Toronto as part of a touring exhibit meant to deepen awareness of the tragedy.
The touring installation’s Canadian representative, music event producer Jesse Brown, described the thousands of display pieces as "forensic evidence" that drive home the horror and the loss in Israel: bottles of alcohol that were left on the bar, an ashtray with a half-smoked cigarette left by a festival-goer.
The Nova Music Festival Exhibition lands in Toronto for a six-week run April 23, after previous stops in cities including New York, Los Angeles and Miami drew more than 300,000 visitors.
Among them were some victims' relatives who made grim discoveries in a section of the exhibit labelled the lost and found, which includes items left behind at the festival, said Brown.
"As the exhibition has travelled across the world, you've had bereaved family members find their kids' items in the lost and found at the exhibition," he said.
"I've witnessed that firsthand, like, twice now. And I know it's actually taken place, it's occurred many more times."
Billed as a “groundbreaking and profound tribute” to victims and survivors of the Hamas-led attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the immersive exhibit includes recorded and in-person testimonies from survivors who share their stories and describe how they are recovering and moving on with their lives.
"It really affected me, and it's affected hundreds of thousands of people who have seen what happened," said Brown.
"We live in a day where there's just quick social media shares and it's videos and you're flicking to the next one. This exhibition is so unique.
"You know, I've gone to many museums over my life and you see things behind glass. People aren't just encouraged to see everything here. They're encouraged to pick it up, to touch it, to feel it, and to meet the people."
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians in the Oct. 7 attack and took 251 people hostage. Roughly a third were killed at the festival, including four Canadians, while 44 were abducted.
The attacks triggered an Israeli military offensive that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.
Brown said the exhibit — created and produced by the founders of the Nova Music Festival — is being brought to Toronto by a Canadian charity called Lincoln Centre for Human Rights Research.
The exhibition is expected to cover more than 5,500 square metres and run through June 8.
Brown said he's become friends with survivors who have participated in the project and say their involvement has been healing.
"They have told me how this has actually really helped their recovery, and it gives them a sense of community and a sense of belonging," he said.
"They're meeting people from all over the world and feeling that there actually is support. There are people out there that when they're able to really grasp what happened to them, what happened to the people at the festival, they connect with them and it just re-humanizes the victims."
— With files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2025.
Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press
