THE silent demise of the farming industry is the subject of an unusual art show in a milk parlour near Swindon.
Purton artist Toni Robinson is holding the exhibition this week at Hurstead Farm, between the village and Cricklade.
Entitled Silent Change, the exhibition includes a sound installation in the milking parlour which is a converted chapel and sound and photographs depicting rural life in the cowshed.
The work focuses on the decline in small farms and how this adds to our country's changing rural landscape and culture.
Toni said: "Changes happen in the High Street but silent changes happen to farmers which nobody will notice.
"The changes are only obvious by the farmers' absence in the village.
"Farmers are packing up because their farms are not proving viable any more. Dairy farmers get 13p a litre for milk which costs 20p a litre to produce and they are working at a loss.
"We are in danger of using a perfect culture and the exhibition is to highlight that."
The exhibition runs from 10am to 3.30pm today and tomorrow.
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