Logo for Unseen Soundwalks, photo: Culture.pl In this inaugural series of Unseen, we take a look at some of the most famous spots which are now located on Parade Square, which surrounds the Palace of Culture and Science.
Each episode tells a story about a place, first through introducing the space to the listener with a guide saying where to stand and what to look out for. Initially, listeners hear a binaural soundscape of what the actual location sounds like now, offering a contemporary acoustic map of the area.
After positioning yourself, let the narrative take you back in time, recalling hidden stories and unearthing lost sounds from addresses wiped off the map of Warsaw. Unseen also features additional archival sounds from the Spoken History Archives at Warsaw’s History Meeting House and from the Polish National Digital Archives.
Places included in Unseen include the Warsaw-Vienna Railway Station, Café Fogg, the last orphange run by renowned educator Janusz Korczak, as well as the Tribune of Honour – an extant reminder of Poland’s communist past.
Screenshot from the Echoes app featuring Unseen Soundwalks, photo: Culture.pl Unseen is available as a downloadable podcast, although it is best experienced through the Echoes geolocative storytelling app available for iOS and Android. After loading the app, search for soundwalks in Warsaw and you’ll find Unseen.
The inaugural series of Unseen is based on a book published by Warsaw’s History Meeting House entitled Przed Wojną i Pałacem (Editor’s translation: Before the War and Palace) by historian Magdalena Stopa, who helped with this series’ production.
Written by John Beauchamp, Feb 2019
