Research context
Valle di Comino is located in between Italy’s mountains. Its location at the top of a hill this is no longer a strategic advantage. With low birth rates, young people moving away, and older people passing away, the area has depopulated and houses have become derelict. The situation is common across Italy and mayors of ‘abandoned’ towns have made international headlines as they try to sell houses for 1 euro or actively attract (refugee) immigrants. It is within this context that in the past few years, refugee facilities have opened in Valle di Comino. During the three winter months of 2019 I used artistic and collaborative ethnographic methods to understand how refugees create a home here. It was part of the
MSc Visual Ethnography Programme at Leiden University, supervised by
Dr. Mark Westmoreland. The research was conducted with the help of
an incredible list of incredible people.