This year, the Tate Britain have commissioned light-up artwork on their building along the Thames. This is the fourth year in a row that they have provided a winter commission, but this is only the first one that I have been to visit. Last year's featured illuminated slugs, but I never found time to see it before it was removed. The artwork, "remembering a brave new world" is by Chila Kumari Singh Burman, and it combines Hundu mythology, Bollywood imagery, history, Blackpool illuminations, and personal memories. For example, the ice cream van is the artist's family. The figure of Britannia at the top of the building is transformed into Kali, a Hindu goddess.
Burman uses feminism and her heritage (Punjabi and Liverpudlian) to address stereotypes and help to create new identities. This commission opened to coincide with Diwali, the Festival of Light, which is a time to celebrate new beginnings and light over darkness.
The wording on the commission highlights the struggles of the past and hopes for a better and brighter future.
The commission lights up the façade of Tate Britain until the end of January 2021.
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