PHOTOS: 7-metre spaceman sculpture unveiled in front of Zagreb Airport

ZAGREB, CROATIA, OCTOBER 21, 2026 – U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Nicole McGraw and internationally renowned American contemporary artist Brendan Murphy unveiled Freedom Forward, a monumental new BOONJI Spaceman sculpture at Zagreb International Airport on October 21. 

The U.S. Embassy in Zagreb and Ambassador McGraw supported the installation as part of the Freedom 250 celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. The installation follows Croatia’s accession to the Artemis Accords September 23rd, highlighting the growing U.S.-Croatia partnership in this exciting new frontier.

Standing approximately 7-meters tall and weighing 1,365 kilograms, Freedom Forward is finished in striking reflective chrome and covered with Murphy’s distinctive handwritten formulas, equations, symbols and words.

Installed at Croatia’s busiest international airport, Freedom Forward will become part of the experience of arriving in and departing from Zagreb. Its mirrored surface captures the surrounding architecture, sky, movement and people, continually incorporating the airport and those passing through it into the work.

“The setting is particularly fitting for Murphy’s BOONJI Spaceman, a figure that has come to represent curiosity, optimism, exploration and the courage to step into the unknown. These are enduring qualities of exploration, whether traveling across borders or reaching toward the stars. At an international airport, those themes intersect naturally with travel and cultural exchange, creating a highly visible new work of public art for residents and millions of visitors to encounter,” the embassy said. 

“We are proud to welcome Freedom Forward to Zagreb Airport, a remarkable work of art. We would like to thank the U.S. Embassy in Croatia and Brendan Murphy for bringing this inspiring project to Zagreb. As Croatia’s international gateway, we are especially pleased to host a BOONJI Spaceman sculpture that reflects the unique ability of art to connect people, cultures and ideas from around the world,” said David Gabelica, deputy CEO of Zagreb Airport.

Murphy’s work is represented in more than 600 private collections and galleries worldwide, and his monumental sculptures have appeared in cities including New York, London, Washington, D.C., Oslo, Riyadh, Houston and Perth. His paintings and sculptures are held in private collections worldwide, among them those of Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, LeBron James, Ryan Gosling, Warren Buffett, and more.

The Zagreb installation continues a story unfolding in Washington, D.C., where Murphy’s seven-meter Serve the Flag BOONJI Spaceman is installed as part of Passport to Patriotism: 250 Years of Diplomacy at the Art Museum of the Americas. Serve the Flag and Freedom Forward create a visual and symbolic connection around Freedom 250 between Washington, Zagreb, and the world.

“Freedom Forward is about movement, possibility and having the courage to keep looking ahead,” said Brendan Murphy. “The BOONJI Spaceman has always represented our instinct to explore what we do not yet know. Bringing this work to Zagreb after Serve the Flag in Washington creates a meaningful next chapter. At an international gateway where people are constantly arriving, departing and crossing borders, that idea of freedom, exploration and connection takes on even greater meaning.”

For Ambassador McGraw, who has championed art and culture as a powerful tool to connect people, bringing Murphy’s work to Zagreb places contemporary American art at the center of one of Croatia’s most visible international crossroads.

“Freedom Forward is an extraordinary addition to Zagreb and an example of the unique ability of art to create connections across cultures and borders,” said U.S. Ambassador to Croatia Nicole McGraw. “Brendan’s work invites people to stop, look and think about ideas that are universal. It is especially meaningful to welcome this sculpture during our Freedom 250 celebrations and at a place that connects Croatia with people and destinations around the world.”

Murphy created the word BOONJI to mean “Positive Energy Derived from Creativity.” Inspired by his childhood fascination with astronauts and the enduring question of who is inside the spacesuit, the BOONJI Spaceman has become one of the defining symbols of his practice, representing human curiosity, potential and the willingness to venture into the unknown.