An exhibition depicting the horror of the October 7 massacre was displayed at the UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday.
Sculptor Orna Ben-Ami selected photographs taken by Ynet's sister outlet "Yedioth Ahronoth" photographer Ziv Koren from across southern Israel, choosing pieces from them that "captivated her attention" and adding an artistic element from the realms of her unique sculptures to them. The result is over 20 exhibits, now placed at the entrance to the UN Headquarters in New York, which still refuses to issue an official condemnation against Hamas.
The process to approve the exhibition - a joint initiative of Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan alongside Ben-Ami - faced countless objections. However, the UN remembered Ben-Ami favorably from her previous exhibition at the location, and the current exhibition, named Negative Positive, will be displayed here until April 12.
"The delegation has already faced many rejections to present something that tells Israel's story, but this time we convinced them using art," Ben-Ami says. "They agreed to display this exhibition next to the General Assembly, and I really hope it will help them understand what we went through."
Erdan added, "The UN's leadership claimed the exhibition's topic is a politically sensitive issue under dispute. We exerted a lot of pressure, and thankfully, they understood that there was a line they didn't want to cross in terms of blocking and distorting reality."
"Since October 7, there has been a phenomenon in the UN of denying the massacre, akin to Holocaust denial. They ignore what happened and what led to the start of this terrible war in Gaza and focus only on pressuring Israel. So finally, here at the entrance to the UN headquarters, we presented evidence for anyone who enters the building gates. Everyone can recall the horrors of Hamas, and that it was them who caused this war that exacted such a high price."
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Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan and Sculptor Orna Ben-Ami
(Photo: Daniel Edelson)
On the eve of the exhibition's opening, in front of 30 representatives from various countries, Ben-Ami chose to begin her speech with compassion for the children of Gaza, saying, "Our hearts break for the innocent children on both sides."
Later, she explained her decision: "I wanted to express the pain for our children who were slaughtered and suffer because of the war, but to also address the children in Gaza who are truly innocent."
"It was very important for me to emphasize that. We're talking about humanity, and we cannot ignore the suffering of children on the other side who are essentially held captive by a terrorist organization that this war aims to dismantle," she added.
"But suffering is suffering, and as an Israeli and an artist, I feel the need to address their suffering as well, just as it was very important for me that a representative of the hostages' families will speak here, and that every diplomat leaves with a catalog of the photographs and a yellow ribbon - maybe they'll remember, maybe they'll help, maybe they'll do something. It's very moving for me to represent Israel in this stubborn and tough place and to do something with my and Ziv's art."
One of the works is based on a photograph of a burned dining room in one of the kibbutz houses in Nir Oz, where everything appears charred except for a white vase left intact in the center of the table. "I added to the photo a framed iron picture of a family. I burned the metal, making it look as if they were alive/not alive. The inspiration comes from another photo by Ziv from the same day - a wedding photo that caught three bullets. I added this family above the jar that remained on the dining table after the fire in an amazing way."
"In my opinion, this is what Ziv wanted to show, so I didn't cover it up. My art usually tries to express emotion and humanity. I manipulate myself, taking the tough iron and infusing it with emotion, femininity, and various ideas. It's a technique I've been using for many years, but this time I'm focusing on the horror of October 7," she explained.
"There are also sculptures in the exhibition that I created in the past, but they speak in an unusual way about what happened then, so I added them to the exhibition. Just as songs today suddenly take on a different meaning - so too did my sculptures take on a different meaning and made it to the exhibition."