As the news came that his South Island road trip would have to be cut short, he quickly called hostel owner Andy Legg, whom he had told he would do some artwork for if he returned to Dunedin, Cornuda said.
They made a deal that he would paint a mural on the front of the building in exchange for a free room.
Enrico Cornuda, a backpacker and artist from Italy, has been painting a mural on the outside of the Globe House hostel in Dunedin in exchange for free accommodation. Photo / Peter McIntosh
And he still had plenty of blank walls to keep him from lockdown boredom, he said.
He had also started a piece on the side of the hostel, which would be a part of HOME, a stay-at-home environmental mural festival run by the Pangeaseed Foundation, Sea Walls, Wanganui Walls and Alternative Arts Initiative.
"If I was not doing this I would be painting at the desk or on my computer, so I would rather it be the walls."
His love for art started at a young age, surrounded by a creative family, and he had worked professionally under his artist name PolpoKornuda all around the world, including Australia and throughout Southeast Asia.
Exchanging art for accommodation was also not new for him, as he started an art travel project in 2015 where he did just that.
