December 15, 2021

A bold new exhibition about to open in Gunnedah celebrates a success story that has sprung from the pandemic.

Sunsets are More Beautiful at the Farm is an exhibition by Arushi Nayar featuring 20 pieces inspired by her life at a farm in Gunnedah.

Arushi’s work spans performance art, video, photography, painting, music and writing, and the Gunnedah exhibition includes 11 drawings, eight paintings and one video. She has a Bachelor’s degree in fine art from the National Art School in Sydney, and a Bachelor’s degree in mass media and mass communication from Indraprastha College at Delhi University, and her painting and drawings are including in collections across India, Australia, the USA, UK and Dubai.

But the pandemic meant Arushi found herself living in Sydney without a job. She considered returning to family in India, but decided the COVID-19 risks were too great. Then her friend Georgia Byriell invited her to come and stay on a farm in Gunnedah about six months ago.

“It is beautiful, I love the place,” she says. “I love the open skies, the sunsets, the horses and dogs, and the chooks. I’m now the chook lady.
“It’s been a journey.”

Arushi has celebrated that journey in the art which will be on display at the Gunnedah Bicentennial Creative Arts Gallery from Saturday, December 18.
She will open the exhibition at 10.30 with a performance piece of her own writing and her own songs, alongside Dominic Goodwin-Hauck, Meg Clowes and Sandra Clark from the Gunnedah Conservatorium.

“The performance is my way of saying thank you to the friend who invited me here, my friends and my family, to Arts North West for the funding through New England North West Creative Projects, and to Gunnedah Shire Council for offering me this opportunity,” she says.

“I feel so grateful to everyone here. It’s not just the sunsets I love, it’s the people. They are very warm and welcoming in the community of Gunnedah.”

Arushi is now looking to make Gunnedah her home permanently.

Sunsets are More Beautiful at the Farm, a solo exhibition by Arushi Nayar, opens with a performance at the Gunnedah Bicentennial Creative Arts Centre at 10.30am on Saturday, December 18. The exhibition will continue through January.

Caption: A section of Arushi Nayar’s work Sunsets are More Beautiful at the Farm.

ENDS

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