With October 8 art exhibit, a Gaza border kibbutz bravely looks to the day after
Inspired by politician Benny Gantz’s temporary stay in Yad Mordechai, a resident sets up a former carpentry shop to host works of resilience amid aftermath of Hamas attack
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
On October 7, 2023, Limor Livne huddled with her husband and daughters in the sealed room of their Yad Mordechai home as terrorists attempted to infiltrate the kibbutz.
One year and one day later, Livne stood in the middle of the former kibbutz carpentry workshop, now an exhibition space for “And The Sun Did Not Stand Still,” curated by Lilach Shmoul and Shlomit Oren DUART, with works by 40 artists, many created during the last year since the Hamas terrorist attack that wreaked havoc and death in the Gaza border region.
“I needed to do something for the region,” said Livne, “something that gave us a reason to look forward.”
The name of the exhibit, which opened October 8 and will stay open through October 26, is taken from the Hebrew title of American Margaret Larkin’s 1968 book about Yad Mordechai during the 1948 War for Independence, when it held off a brigade of Egyptian soldiers.
Now the events of October 7 are another chapter in the same struggle for independence and freedom, said Livne.
The exhibit begins in the former woodworking shop, where Livne’s father-in-law once worked, with a graffitied wall full of red hearts and blue eyes by street artist Binsky.
Some works are quirky, some more serious, ranging from Gabi Zeltzman’s work “Believe,” heart-shaped bubble wrap domes filled with honey to spell out the word Believe, to Tamar Karavan’s photo of lace-dressed hands holding knitted red and white flowers, a gesture to Karavan’s Holocaust survivor grandmother whose knitting and sewing skills saved her life and allowed the family to find a path to recovery.
A glass vitrine holds the finely etched metal figures of “Surfing” by Zadok Ben David based on surfers he met in Tel Aviv who were evacuated from their kibbutz homes in the south. Nearby, two digitized photographs by Be’eri artist Sophie Berzon Mackie, created after her evacuation from the decimated kibbutz, continue her line of works featuring animals in fantastical places, such as an owl clinging to the moon and a deer standing on a boulder in space.
“Red Alert,” an oil painting of a field of white flowers offset against fires burning in the background is by Livne’s mother-in-law, Nurit Livne, who paints pictures of the south’s trademark anemones. Painter Shai Azoulay created “Princess in Captivity,” an oil work based on the testimony of former Kibbutz Kfar Aza hostage Amit Soussana, taken kicking and screaming by Hamas terrorists on October 7 to Gaza.
Yad Mordechai was luckier than other nearby kibbutz communities on October 7. The kibbutz emergency squad had gotten wind of what they assumed would be a relatively small Hamas attack during the early hours of the morning and stood ready to defend themselves at the front gate and in the fields.
“It was a great miracle, a huge miracle,” said Livne, recounting that the kibbutz had planned a community triathlon for that morning, with plans to set out at 7 a.m. and run by Moshav Netiv Ha’asara and Kibbutz Be’eri. Ironically, it was the 6:29 a.m. rocket attack from Gaza that kept everyone close to home.
Livne called her sister-in-law in Be’eri, who whispered that she was holding a knife and hiding in a closet. Livne said she grabbed her own “Meir Adoni knife,” a kitchen blade named for the Israeli chef.
“We were terrified. I thought that would save us,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief.
When darkness fell, the Livne family sped away in their car to friends in Ra’anana, traveling during a massive rocket barrage that Livne said felt like the end of the world.
They ended up spending six months in a hotel in Hadera with the rest of Yad Mordechai, only moving back home in March.
“I keep myself in a certain emotional distance from what happened,” said Livne. “I don’t cry a lot.”
Instead, she keeps herself busy.
Livne handles real estate for the kibbutz, among other tasks, and organized a rental home for National Unity party chief Benny Gantz, who moved temporarily to the kibbutz in March as a sign of solidarity with the region.
“It gave us a great feeling that he came to live here, after the sense of abandonment on October 7,” said Livne.
The two became friendly, and it was Gantz who convinced Livne to go forward with the exhibit and to open on October 8, the day after countrywide memorials were held for the massacre.
“He said, ‘The 8th is when we continue; we want to turn our faces forward,'” said Livne.
It was the push that Livne needed. She raised funds from Israeli and American philanthropists to hire a professional exhibit producer and curators to help choose the mix of Tel Aviv and southern artists who participated.
The first call she made was to Tamar Karavan, daughter of sculptor Danny Karavan and an artist in her own right. The two women are active Facebook friends, and Karavan had reached out to Livne on October 7 to check in on her.
Months later, Livne asked Karavan how to get started with the event, and Karavan, who is based in Tel Aviv, offered names and contacts of art world professionals who could put together the exhibit with Livne.
“I was in touch with so many people for this project,” said Livne, who was born and raised in Beersheba. She moved to Yad Mordechai 27 years ago after marrying a kibbutz native whose parents were among the founders of the community.
Getting the exhibit ready also meant adding a protective roof onto the old carpentry shop above the original, wood-beamed ceiling, as well as electricity and plumbing. Built in 1949, months after kibbutz members had faced down the Egyptian army, the aging space itself is a testament to the resilience of Yad Mordechai and the rest of the region in the face of recurring tragedy.
“I needed this to happen,” said Livne.
