Kiryat Ono Exhibition Honors Fallen Soldiers of Iron Swords War

An exhibition titled "Creative Community Remembers, Iron Swords War" will open on Tuesday, October 6, at the municipal library in Kiryat Ono. This community initiative connects art, remembrance, and the families who lost loved ones during the October 7th events and the subsequent war. The exhibition will be open to the public until October 22 during the library's operating hours.

The project, which began in Kiryat Ono about a decade ago, involved artists from the city meeting with bereaved families in recent months. Through conversations, photographs, personal items, and memories, deep connections were formed, leading to the creation of unique artworks that give shape, color, and substance to the stories of the fallen. Each artist was entrusted with a sensitive personal story and worked with a sense of great responsibility towards the family and the commemoration of their loved one.

Accompanying the exhibition is a catalog curated by Hagit Shilo, who listened to the stories and documented the shared process and the connections that developed. At the exhibition's opening, a short documentary film directed by Yariv Rubin will be screened, capturing the emotional moment when families first encountered the artworks created in memory of their loved ones.

Kiryat Ono Mayor Michal Rosenstein stated that while the community cannot take away the families' pain, it can choose not to leave them to bear it alone. She added that the initiative allows the public to encounter not only the loss but also the lives and the impact left by the fallen. Sigal Khalifa, mother of the late Gaia Khalifa and chairwoman of the Bereaved Families Forum in Kiryat Ono, emphasized that the project's profound meaning lies in the bonds formed and the community's choice to be a partner rather than stand aside.