Gordan Lederer Memorial: A Broken Landscape of Remembrance

Perched atop Čukur hill, overlooking the Una River Valley, the Gordan Lederer Memorial stands as a powerful tribute to the fallen Croatian photographer and cameraman. Gordan Lederer lost his life on this very spot on August 9, 1991, while filming Croatian defenders during the Serb attacks. The memorial, unveiled in August 2015, serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made during the Croatian War of Independence and honors other Croatian Radio and Television (HRT) cameramen and photographers who perished during the war.The memorial's centerpiece is a large, broken camera lens sculpture, aptly named 'Broken Landscape'. Designed by the NFO architecture studio and sculptor Petar Barišić, the lens is made of layered glass with a bullet hole piercing through it, symbolizing the sniper fire that took Lederer's life. The shattered glass reflects the surrounding landscape, creating a mosaic of fragmented images that represent the brokenness and loss caused by war.A path of 33 concrete slabs leads to the lens, each slab representing a year of Lederer's life, with the year engraved in negative as an interpretation of film frames. The path guides visitors to a plateau where they can contemplate the scene and observe the lens, which directs their view towards the valley, framing the same landscape Lederer filmed. The memorial invites visitors to reflect on the impact of war and the importance of bearing witness to conflict.