Luchtalarm (Air Raid Siren)

Directed by Sebastián Diaz Morales

Since 2018, artist Sebastián Díaz Morales (1975) has filmed the streets of Amsterdam every first Monday of the month at 12 o'clock. His camera records daily life through every season. These serene moments blend with the testing of the air raid siren, a loud, howling sound that warned of bombardments during the Second World War. Today, wars still rage in other countries, but when the alarm sounds in Amsterdam, life continues as usual. The siren has become like an old custom. Once it signaled danger; now it's an everyday urban sound along with car horns and bicycle bells. The video reveals this odd truth: a system meant to protect us has faded into the back-ground. The air raid siren so familiar to the city will probably be terminated at the end of 2025. Díaz Morales offers a farewell salute to an alarm that no longer sounds the alarm. Hear the future!