Writer/curator Cathy Byrd sparks conversations with culture makers from around the world for our podcast. Our professionally produced podcast synthesizes voices, field recordings, and rich sound effects to inform and inspire each conversation. Keeping in mind both the expert and the novice in contemporary art, we promote and support public access and awareness of the arts through our free digital archive of more than 300 episodes. Cathy and her team are committed to curating informed, balanced and diverse stories through the lens of today’s art, film and design. Since 2011, Fresh Art International has served as an engaging resource for individuals, communities and schools.
All content for Fresh Art International is the property of Cathy Byrd and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Writer/curator Cathy Byrd sparks conversations with culture makers from around the world for our podcast. Our professionally produced podcast synthesizes voices, field recordings, and rich sound effects to inform and inspire each conversation. Keeping in mind both the expert and the novice in contemporary art, we promote and support public access and awareness of the arts through our free digital archive of more than 300 episodes. Cathy and her team are committed to curating informed, balanced and diverse stories through the lens of today’s art, film and design. Since 2011, Fresh Art International has served as an engaging resource for individuals, communities and schools.
To introduce the new Reflecting Zemstvei podcast produced by local creatives in Chișinău, Moldova, Cathy Byrd and Olga Raileanu take listeners inside an intensive workshop experience that spanned three days in March 2025. In this episode, you’ll meet the young Moldovans who learned to master recording equipment, script stories, and collect sounds and voices to shape stories from their hometown’s independent art scene.
Since 2013, artists and independent initiatives have rented spaces in a center-city building complex known as “Zemstvei,” a state-owned architectural monument that dates from the mid-19th century. They call their improvisational community “Casa Zemstvei.” Creators and curators, animators and activists, visitors and regulars embrace the crumbling architecture, arctic cold, echoey acoustics, and primitive grandeur of this historic space.
Recorded on location, episodes in this limited edition audio program are inspired by the surrounding sonic landscape and the creative characters that energize Chișinău’s “House of Wonders.”
Note: The original version of this episode premiered on YouTube as #1/ Reflectând Zemstvei / How We Made the Podcast.
Production: Cathy Byrd, with Olga Raileanu
Sound Design: Marian Lupu, Olga Raileanu, and Anamnesis Audio
Voices:
Daniel Boldurat - student and volunteer at Oberliht Association
Franz Cocarcea - producer of the video podcast Omul face locul
Bogdan Glavan - high school student, with experience in sound design
Alex Hanganu - student, activist and cultural manager
Olga Raileanu - graphic designer with journalism experience
Marina Scalețchi - communicator
Vladimir Us - curator, president of Oberliht Association
Related Links:
Reflecting Zemstvei Podcast on YouTube, with Subtitles
Reflecting Zemstvei Podcast on SoundCloud
Fresh Art International
Writer/curator Cathy Byrd sparks conversations with culture makers from around the world for our podcast. Our professionally produced podcast synthesizes voices, field recordings, and rich sound effects to inform and inspire each conversation. Keeping in mind both the expert and the novice in contemporary art, we promote and support public access and awareness of the arts through our free digital archive of more than 300 episodes. Cathy and her team are committed to curating informed, balanced and diverse stories through the lens of today’s art, film and design. Since 2011, Fresh Art International has served as an engaging resource for individuals, communities and schools.
