The journey of migrants arriving by train to their first Australian home at Bonegilla has been captured on a large scale.
Lavington street artist Kade Sarte attended Bonegilla Migrant Camp’s 75th anniversary in November where he created a giant mural as part of the commemorations.
Working under the shade of some gum trees, Kade spent three days creating the mural while also chatting to former migrants attending the reunion.
“It was fascinating to hear some of their stories,” he said.
“Everyone had a different story of how they came to be at Bonegilla and where they ended up.”
The 2.4m by 3m painting depicts a steam train arriving at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception Centre next to some accommodation huts.
Piles of luggage feature in one corner and Kade used dark colours to portray the train arriving late at night, something many migrants described.
On arrival at the centre, migrants would collect any hand baggage and were allocated basic sleeping quarters.
There was an issue of eating utensils, crockery, blankets, and bed linen waiting for them on top of a thin kapok mattress on their bed.
Watch this space to see where the mural will be displayed.