5. The Noise Within

In Horaivka, celebration and grief share the same space. At a village gathering in south-western Ukraine, music, homemade food, traditional clothing and embroidery passed down through generations bring the community together.These rituals preserve family histories and strengthen a sense of belonging, while the absence left by those who died in the war remains impossible to ignore.Through the voice of Sergio, a resident of Horaivka who spent many years living in Italy, and the stories of the local community, this episode explores how ordinary life continues alongside conflict and how war gradually becomes part of the landscape, memory and daily experience.The Noise Within is the fifth episode of Silence behind the frontlines.A podcast by Sineglossa for the Discovery Guide project, developed in collaboration with Fundacja Ziemniaki i and Territory NGO, and co-funded by the Creative Program of the European Union.Reported, written and narrated by Beatrice Petrella.Edited by Alessandra Forghieri.Story editing, sound design, original music and executive production by Jonathan Zenti. Designed and made by BAU Studio.

During an archaeological excavation on the shores of Bakota Bay, the group meets Danilo, a Ukrainian soldier who spends his rare periods of leave searching the ground for traces of a history far older than the war. As archaeology and the present begin to overlap, unearthing the past becomes a way of protecting a nation's identity while imagining what might come next. The Veteran is the fourth episode of Silence behind the frontlines.A podcast by Sineglossa for the Discovery Guide project, developed in collaboration with Fundacja Ziemniaki i and Territory NGO, and co-funded by the Creative Program of the European Union.Reported, written and narrated by Beatrice Petrella.Edited by Alessandra Forghieri.Story editing, sound design, original music and executive production by Jonathan Zenti. Designed and made by BAU Studio.

Water can remember home. But it can also erase it. In 1981, to make way for a hydroelectric power plant on the Dniester River, entire villages in the Bakota region were evacuated and submerged. Homes, fields and gathering places disappeared beneath the water.Through the testimonies of Larisa, Igor and Valentina, this episode brings to the surface the story of the communities forced to leave their homes. A story about the need to have a place to return to—and about what endures, even when that place no longer exists.The Village is the third episode of Silence behind the frontlines.A podcast by Sineglossa for the Discovery Guide project, developed in collaboration with Fundacja Ziemniaki i and Territory NGO, and co-funded by the Creative Program of the European Union.Reported, written and narrated by Beatrice Petrella.Edited by Alessandra Forghieri.Story editing, sound design, original music and executive production by Jonathan Zenti. Designed and made by BAU Studio.

Perched on a hill overlooking the Dniester River, an abandoned school has become an artists' residency, a place of encounter and, during the war, a place of refuge. Bakota Hub was created to host artists, but over time it has become deeply woven into the life of the village. Residencies, workshops and collaborative projects have fostered new relationships between those who arrive and those who have always called this place home.Through the voices of Alina Oliinyk, co-founder of Bakota Hub, Federico Bomba, President of Sineglossa and creator of the Discovery Guide project, Roksolana Dudka, multidisciplinary artist and curator, and the artists in residence — including Anna Romandash, Olena Kayinska, Camille Bleu-Valentin, ARSÈNE, Robin Alysha Clemens, and Bohdana Korohod — this episode explores how a cultural space can become a temporary home, a refuge, and a place where people come together to imagine the future.The Hub is the second episode of Silence behind the frontlines.A podcast by Sineglossa for the Discovery Guide project, developed in collaboration with Fundacja Ziemniaki i and Territory NGO, and co-funded by the Creative Program of the European Union.Reported, written and narrated by Beatrice Petrella.Edited by Alessandra Forghieri.Story editing, sound design, original music and executive production by Jonathan Zenti. Designed and made by BAU Studio.

When was the last time you truly listened to silence? In Bakota, silence is not an absence, but a presence. It fills the landscape, alters the perception of distance, and makes the war feel both remote and close.The journey begins on a bus bound for Ukraine, crossing borders at night, travelling along damaged roads and through villages that seem suspended outside the conflict. Upon arrival, artists from different countries begin exploring the territory through maps, walks and listening practices. But in a country at war, even the quietest place carries an echo of the front.Sound of Silence is the first episode of Silence behind the frontlines.A podcast by Sineglossa for the Discovery Guide project, developed in collaboration with Fundacja Ziemniaki i and Territory NGO, and co-funded by the Creative Program of the European Union.Reported, written and narrated by Beatrice Petrella.Edited by Alessandra Forghieri.Story editing, sound design, original music and executive production by Jonathan Zenti. Designed and made by BAU Studio.