Despite the health emergency, the Tate Britain of London renews the appointment with the Winter Commission, introducing on its facade the work of the artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman, a multicolored neon installation aimed at conveying a message of joy and hope to all of us.
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For the fourth consecutive year, the facade of the Tate Britain - London's world-renowned museum - temporarily changes its face, thanks to the artistic intervention carried out within the Winter Commission. After Alan Kane, Monster Chetwynd and Anne Hardy, it is Chila Kumari Singh Burman's turn to measure herself against the peculiarities of the building’s facade.
Born in Liverpool in 1957, Chila Kumari Singh Burman describes herself as a "Punjabi Liverpudlian" who likes to combine her Indian roots with elements of popular culture: she mixes stereotypes to create new identities, beyond the limits imposed on South Asian women in a British cultural context. In her work, she combines style and techniques, including collage, painting, engraving and video.
“Remembering a Brave New World” transforms the outside facade of the London institution into a jubilation of colored neon lights, which strongly connects to the Indian myths, evocative of the artist's Punjabi origins, combining elements taken from pop imagery and bright colors, made even brighter by the use of neon.
In clear contrast to last year's intervention, Chila Kumari Singh Burman's luminous art installation reacts to the restlessness of the present by conveying a message of hope and empathy between worlds only apparently distant. The references to the Indian gods Lakshmi and Kali - symbol of prosperity and a feminine dimension that inspires the artist's research - embody Burman's childhood memories and contemporary forms, breaking down temporal distances and prejudices.
An approach consistent with the artist's multidisciplinary production, capable of ranging from drawing to painting, from installation language to filmic language, and an exhortation to find in creativity a tool to keep up with the difficult period in which we live. As Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, points out: "Although our museums and galleries are closed, we are happy to be able to unveil Chila Kumari Singh Burman's new commission. I hope that this spectacular transformation of the Tate Britain's facade will be a source of light and hope during the dark days of the lockdown and bring joy to all those who live nearby”.
Cover image: "Remembering a Brave New World",2020, Chila Kumari Sigh Burman. Photo courtesy: Tate.
Written by Maria Eleonora Piva
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