This year we celebrated the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising – an event that went down in Polish history as one of the most heroic uprisings and became a symbol of steadfastness in the fight for freedom. Although decades have passed since 1 August 1944, the memory of the insurgents remains alive – every year Warsaw residents, as well as visitors from all over Poland, gather in the capital to pay tribute to the insurgents.
This year, the city has decided to commemorate the fallen in a unique way. The Warsaw City Hall has planned a light drone show. The show will take place on 30 August at 9.30pm, and the best place to watch it is expected to be the Vistula boulevard of General George Smith Patton.
It will be the largest show yet held in Poland – one of the largest in Europe. It is to involve 615 light drones, which will form symbolic figures in the Warsaw sky associated with the uprising. The musical setting is not insignificant – the drones will soar to the symphonic piece ‘Drones Over the City’, which was composed by the son of one of the Warsaw insurgents, Karim Martusewicz. Courtesy of the Oral History Archive, the audience will also hear recreated statements from the insurgents themselves during the show.
This is the first such spectacular example in our country of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for artistic purposes. Drones, usually associated with the film, military or logistics industry, are proving to be an excellent tool for artistic expression – mainly due to their manoeuvrability and precision. They are being recognised in this role all over the world, from the United Arab Emirates to the United States and pioneering China, where a Guinness World Record-breaking simultaneous drone flight involving as many as 8100 drones is set to take place on 5 September 2024.
Over the years, traditional forms of commemorations of uprising anniversaries – such as remembrance marches, re-enactments or concerts – have played a key role in keeping the memory of those who fought alive. The use of drones as a modern medium will certainly add variety to the traditional forms of commemorations, but more importantly, it offers hope for the interest of younger audiences in history and opens the way for the use of modern technology in the service of remembrance.
You can read more about the planned demonstration and other commemorations of the Warsaw Uprising anniversary here: https://www.rp.pl/spoleczenstwo/art40980841-615-dronow-nad-warszawa-w-holdzie-dla-powstancow
