06:29AM on 7 October 2023 was the moment the music stopped at The Nova Music Festival in Israel. The moment terrorists brought carnage upon over 3000 young people from around the world, who had gathered, on a holiday weekend, to celebrate music, life and freedom, at a peace-loving music festival. In that moment, 413 of them were murdered, including one London-born British national; and a British-Israeli. From Wednesday 20 May, The Nova Exhibition brings that moment back to life in London, through a unique and powerful recreation of the festival site in the aftermath of the deadly attacks.
Titled “06:29AM – The Moment Music Stood Still”, the exhibition, which opens in East London for six weeks, offers space for a moment of reflection and understanding. This powerful and deeply moving experience immerses visitors in the recreated festival site, featuring the actual staging, vehicles and thousands of personal items discarded in the chaos of the attacks and puts them on display for the first time in the UK. It sheds light on the lives forever changed in that moment – at 06:29AM – while inviting visitors to reconnect with the spirit of the festival and the enduring call to feel the music and dance again.
The exhibition, which has already drawn over 600,000 visitors across ten cities worldwide, pays tribute to the unifying force of music and dance. To the 413 lives lost from a range of countries, including UK, France, Germany, Italy, United States, Israel, Philippines, and Mexico.
Londoners, Lisa (61) and Michael (64) Marlowe, whose son, Jake (26) was murdered at the festival, said: “Bringing this exhibition to London feels like our boy is coming home for six weeks. He was our shining star. On that day, he could have run, but he chose to stay and try to save as many lives as possible. That sums up who our boy was.”
