Neon and Bollywood style: the facade of Tate Britain is transformed to give hope

London’s Tate Britain is closed to the public because of the health emergency, but nothing has stopped the museum venue from transforming its facade into a ... winter version. Author of the luminous installation that made the facade a triumph of neon lights and colors, remembering a brave new world, is artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman. She combines Hindu mythology,Bollywood imagery, colonial history and individual memory in the work and has transformed the figure of Britannia, symbol of British imperialism, into the goddess Kali, Hindu deity of liberation and power. The forms, deities and enlightened words are linked by Lakshmibai, the queen of Jhansi: a warrior of Indian resistance against British colonialism.

Chila Kumari Singh Burman is known worldwide for her radical feminism, which she expresses in etchings, drawings, paintings, installations and films. Her Punjabi and Liverpool heritage enriches her art; she combines stereotypes to create new identities, beyond the limits imposed on South Asian women in the British cultural context.

Remembering a brave new world is the fourth winter commission Tate Britain has organized, following those featuring Anne Hardy, Alan Kane and Monster Chetwynd.

The installation was created to coincide with Diwali, the festival of lights, by which new beginnings are celebrated, the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness: the work is inspired by the bright struggles and victories of the past to give hope for a bright future.

Ph.Credit Tate Britain

Neon and Bollywood style: the facade of Tate Britain is transformed to give hope

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