These photographs, generally unseen by American audiences, document the events of October 7 and their aftermath. These images, predominantly captured by Israeli journalists, are paired with a moving and uplifting soundtrack.

War Diary: October 7 (Film. 23 min)

The film War Diary was initially created for the exhibition Local Testimony 2023. It includes 300 news photos shot in the Gaza Envelope region after the October 7 massacre and during the ensuing war. The curators of Local Testimony, Dana Wohlfeiler Lalkin, Vardi Kahana, Anat Saragusti, and Ami Steinitz chose the photographs while considering how creative acts of documentation shape and formulate Israeli collective memory.

Photographers: Avi Roccah, Abir Sultan, Amir Levy, Ariel Schalit, Chaim Goldberg, Dor Pazuelo, Dov Gazit, Eli Atias, Fadi Amun, Hadas Parush, Ilan Lorenzi, Ilia Yefimovich, Itai Ron, Itay Cohen, Jonathan Bloom, Kobi Wolf, Miriam Alster, Moti Milrod, Nimrod Gluckman, Ohad Zwigenberg, Oren Ben Hakoon, Oren Ziv, Rabia Basha, Rami Shlush, Rina Castelnuovo, Roee Idan Z”L, Shir Torem, Tomer Appelbaum, Tomer Neuberg, Tsafrir Abayov, Yossi Zeliger, Yuval Chen, Yuval Daniel, Ziv Koren.

Video and Sound Editor: Ran Slavin

Graphic Design: Anat Kleiman

Production: Sandy Teperson

The Pain Front (Playlist on Spotify)

Among the first to give voice to our collective grief after the horrific massacre of October 7 were Israeli musicians. By the end of the first week of the war, they began performing voluntarily all over the country. The musicians provided temporary relief and an opportunity to be in the company of familiar stars for people who survived unthinkable trauma or were about to leave for war. They played at funerals and hospitals, performed for evacuees from the South and the North, for survivors of the music festival massacre, and for soldiers at meeting points. They often performed with only a guitar – and a lot of soul.

These gatherings were more than performances; they were, first and foremost, intimate encounters between human beings. At times, these artists were the first to hear the stories of evacuees, of people who had been injured or had lost loved ones. These encounters provided emotional and human energy that will likely be topics of future discussions.

The exhibition’s soundtrack comprises songs we have heard since October 7. Many are familiar songs that the war has charged with new meaning.