Senior associate Arjunan Puveendran presents Bhoomi: Our Country for Sydney Festival 2021

Senior associate Arjunan Puveendran joined Thomson Geer in Sydney in 2015 and works primarily in the firm’s Corporate group in its specialist gaming and leisure team. Recognised for this legal skill, Arjunan was a finalist in the 2018 Lawyers Weekly ’30 Under 30′ Awards.

Aside from his busy life as a lawyer, Arjunan is a fully trained South Indian classical music performer recognised by the Australia Council as an Arts Leader for 2020. A recent highlight for Arjunan, was in 2019 when he featured in Counting and Cracking, a ground-breaking play which went on to win 7 Helpmann Awards.

Regularly performing in collaboration with local and international artists, Arjunan also utilises his talents in production and has produced a number of works for arts festivals in Sydney and Melbourne. In addition, Arjunan serves on the boards of two grass-roots arts organisations.

His most recent work Bhoomi: Our Country is being presented by Sydney Festival 2021 on January 14, 2021. Reinvented from the 2019 performance Bhoomi: Woman and Earth also co-produced and directed by Arjunan, Bhoomi: Our Country is inspired by stories of Bhoomi, the Hindu goddess of the Earth, and showcases the music and dance heritage of Southern India.

Bhoomi draws on the talents and ritual practice of local artists to create a work speaking to issues of global importance. Through collaborating with Aboriginal author and historian Bruce Pascoe, Bhoomi honours our First Nations peoples and their relationship with country by exploring how stories across countries converge, to create shared cultural narratives.

Presented on the day of Pongal, a celebration of harvest in South Asia, this performance heeds nature’s cycle. Through Carnatic music, Bharata Natyam dance and spoken word, Bhoomi takes the audience on an immersive journey from seed, to growth, to harvest, to renewal.

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