Udine Hostel, Italy

Udine Hostel was an Italian migrant centre where Gina Sinozich and her family, along with 3,000 other refugees, were sent to be processed as political asylum seekers in 1956. The Sinozich family had fled communist Yugoslavia and lived at the Udine Hostel for 18 months. This painting shows the sparse and depressing hostel with its lack of privacy and overcrowding. Along with these challenging physical conditions, refugees also faced resentment from the local community, who were largely unsympathetic to their plight during the economic hardships of post World War II Europe.