Mausoleum to the Fallen Insurgents, Popina, Serbia
Designed by Bogdan Bogdanović, 1981
Popina Spomen Park is located on a hill called Nebrak, between the towns of Vrnjačka Banja and Trstenik, along the Morava River valley. It was constructed on the location of the tranches of the Battle of Popina 40 years after it took place on October 1941.
The Battle of Popina marks the initial assault of Nazi forces on the Partizan resistance. It was not long after the partisans managed to liberate a small part of Serbia and form an independent state called the ‘Republic of Užice.’ The occupying Nazi forces were determined to retake the liberated area and launched a series of strikes known as ‘Operation Užice.’ The first clash between the two sides occurred on Nebrak hill, with the Germans outnumbering the Partisans by more than three to one.
After 4 hours of fierce battle and 40 losses, the Partisans pulled back, and the Germans proceeded their march towards the city of Užice.
Forty years after the fight, during the days of Tito’s Yugoslavia, the locals decided to commemorate
the events on Nebrak hill by building a memorial park that will include a monument, a motel, and tourist facilities to attract internal tourism to their area.
Bogdanović, tasked with designing the complex, had the monument constructed out of black stone. It consisted of four elements neatly aligned to provide a direct sight line of all three elements while standing on top of the first one.
While we can only assume what Bogdanović’s intention with this Spomenik design was, one can find a direct line of resemblance to the Čačak Spomenik he designed only a year earlier.
Even though Popina Spomen Park was preserved and restored in 2017, after years of neglect, it seems this restoration was a one-time act. The road signs marking the place are worn out, and the brick road that takes you to the top of the hill is hardly seen below the grass.
The monument was still in good shape, but graffiti marks could already be seen again.
Exploring the monument, it felt like Bogdanović had left us a riddle to be solved. The way those symmetric elements are aligned to create a tunnel of sight toward the horizon on the other side of the Morava River Vally is intriguing and fascinating. I wanted to express this line of sight in my photography and searched for the right composition that would tell the story of the place and the way it reflects in me.
The clear sky and direct sunlight formed hard shadows cast by the different elements of the monument. On any other occasion, such lighting conditions would pose a real challenge to my photographic approach, but this time they worked in my favor, as I used the hard shadow to create this eye-shaped figure that complements the line of sight concept.
More information about the Spomenik can be found here:
https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/popina