Today’s episode is a poetic epilogue to the Student Edition we produced with university students from the United States and Canada. The emerging podcasters who share this story are enrolled at schools in Chișinău, capital city of the Republic of Moldova. Their tiny Eastern European country declared its independence from the Soviet Union not so long ago, in 1991. Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Ukraine continues to have an impact on everyday life here. Olga Raileanu, Bogdan Glavan, and Daniel Boldurat reached out to local photographer Mihail Calarașan, Ukrainian artist KAR, and sociologist Vitalie Sprînceană to talk about art in times of war for their new Reflecting Zemstvei podcast.

Note: The original version of this episode premiered on YouTube as #1/ Reflectând Zemstvei / Peace Street.

About Casa Zemstvei and the Reflecting Zemstvei Podcast: Since 2013, artists and independent initiatives have rented spaces in a center-city building known as Muzeul Zemstvei. They call their improvisational community “Casa Zemstvei.” Creators and curators, animators and activists, visitors and regulars embrace the crumbling architecture, the arctic cold, the echoey acoustics, and the primitive grandeur of this historic space.

In spring 2025, Fresh Art International’s Cathy Byrd introduced podcasting during a 3-day intensive workshop. Participants recorded voices and sounds for stories about the independent art scene inside Casa Zemstvei.

Workshop participants became producers by learning to master recording equipment, script stories, collect sounds and voices and shape stories. Recorded on location, episodes in the limited edition Reflecting Zemstvei audio program are influenced by the surrounding sonic landscape and informed by the creative characters that inhabit this “House of Wonders.” The venue’s displays and public conversations around the war in Ukraine at the time of our workshop sparked this episode.

Peace Street Producers
Olga Raileanu – Moldovan graphic designer with a background in journalism and media production.
Bogdan Glavan – Moldovan student with experience in sound design.
Daniel Boldurat – Moldovan student with experience in journalism, volunteer at Oberliht Association.

Peace Street Guests
Mihail Calarașan – Documentary photographer, since 2017 he has been working on personal long-term documentary projects.
KAR – Ukrainian artist whose artwork was displayed at the inauguration of the ”Peace Street” at Casa Zemstvei.
Vitalie Sprînceană – sociologist, co-founder and co-editor of platzforma.md.

Post-production for the Fresh Art International version of this episode: Anamnesis Audio

Art and the Struggle for Peace—Reflections from Casa Zemstvei