Dazzling new installation by Liverpool artist to be added to Blackpool illuminations

Two dazzling new installations by two internationally-renowned artists will be added to Blackpool's seafront this autumn ahead of the illuminations display this autumn.

Liverpool-born artist Dr Chila Kumari Singh Burman and Bruce Alfred have each designed an installation for grand switch-on on Friday 1 September.

Burman is has produced numerous high-profile works including installations for the Tate Gallery, Covent Garden in London and special commissions for film companies, including Netflix.

In 2021, she produced an installation called “Blackpool, Light Of My Life” on the front of Blackpool’s Grundy Art Gallery and vowed to return to design something of scale in the Illuminations.

The result is a 26 metre-wide animated tableau called “Lollies In Love With Light” and is a kaleidoscopic celebration.

It has around 760 metres of LED neon lighting, with a technicolour ice cream van at its centre and is inspired by her parents who ran an ice cream business.

Dr Chila Kumari Singh Burman said: "This is a dream come true. I visited the Illuminations from the age of five every year with my mum and dad, siblings and family from Punjab.

"This is my childhood gone full circle and I can’t believe it is happening.

"My late mum and dad would have been over the moon to see their ice cream van on a Blackpool Illuminations tableau!"

Canadian-born artist Bruce Alfred specialises in Native American art and has created a design that includes hand-drawn images of eagles and Orca whales.

It is the first ever illuminations display to be designed by a North American artist and one of the first to be developed using 3D printing technology.

Alfred's tableau called “Light Around The World”, which has more than 13,000 programmable LED lamps, celebrates international cultures.

Cllr Lynn Williams, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “These new works show the sheer scale of ambition as we continue to reinvent one of the UK’s most enduring tourist attractions.

“With the help of Government and Arts Council funding, coupled with the introduction of new manufacturing and design techniques, we are cementing Blackpool’s status as a world leader illumination.

“The new installations for 2023 are truly stunning and will bring a completely new dimension to the traditional tableaux section on the Promenade."

The 2023 display will also include a new-look Spitfire Island - a large-scale installation developed in collaboration with designer and Illuminations curator, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

Jen Cleary, Director North, Arts Council England said: "Our investment supports Blackpool Illuminations to develop and deliver an extensive talent development programme for artists and creatives as well as commission, in collaboration with Lightpool Festival, nationally and internationally recognised artists who work with light.

"It is exciting news that new installations are being designed by renowned artists Dr Chila Kumari Singh Burman, who is making a return to Blackpool, and Bruce Alfred.

"I’m looking forward to seeing these works unveiled when the Illuminations launch on 1 September."

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