Liat Atzili - Nir Oz
Most of us know the story of Liat Atzili from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
She was kidnapped and released after 54 days of hell in Hamas captivity, and upon her return she was informed that her husband, Aviv, who was considered missing since October 7th, had been murdered.
The connection of "Comfort Object" with Liat can only be described as "love at first sight". She contacted us after getting a recommendation from a friend who told her that we could be trusted. Liat trusted us from the first moment, when she said that the most important thing for her is remembering Aviv.
We met a smart, sensitive woman, a woman in pain, who made us happy when she put her faith in us. Liat and Aviv met at one of the meetings of the Kibbutz Movement. They have three adult children, who were not with them on October 7. Liat has been a citizenship teacher and instructor at "Yad Vashem" for many years and Aviv managed Nir Oz's garage and was a farmer.
On October 7, the late Aviv and Liat were at their home in Nir Oz. When the attack started, Aviv, who was part of the kibbutz emergency squad, went out to the paths of the kibbutz while Liat stayed home until she was kidnapped.
After returning from captivity, and at the start of the relationship with the Comfort Object team, Liat decided to refurbish a wooden abacus that was left on one of the sooty walls in the kitchen of their home. It is an abacus that Aviv brought with him from Russia, where he visited as part of his work. Liat says that Aviv used to travel and wander in local markets, and that's where he bought the abacus.
When the abacus was removed from the wall, evidence remained on the wall that was photographed and documented.
The abacus survived the fire and was transferred to Maya's studio in Beit Berl, where it was renewed. Liat says that choosing the abacus was important to her as a memento and commemorative item, which tells something deep about Aviv.
During the entire process, we had the feeling that Aviv would have enjoyed taking part in the renewal process himself, if only he could.Liat told us how Aviv, who defined himself as a "creator" (but not as an artist, according to him), used to take metal scraps and paint delicate and wonderful paintings of nature on them.
"Doubt" by the late Aviv Atzili (The piece was not renewed by us as part of the project).
When Maya heard about this, we turned to Liat and asked to collect Aviv's creative tools from the sooty MAMAD (safe room) from which Maya created an artistic object fashioned from recycled tools and materials, an object that was given to Liat with love, alongside the renewed abacus that is already hanging on the wall of her current home in Carmei Gat.
