Chila Burman Creates Bespoke Artwork For Universal Music

Chila Kumari Burman MBE, one of the UK’s most acclaimed and prolific contemporary artists, has collaborated with Universal Music UK to create a bespoke installation for the official BRIT Awards after-party. Burman’s specially commissioned artwork is featured on the BRITS invitation and comes to life at the event where her trademark neon will fill the room with colour. As well as creating the bespoke artwork for the BRITS, Burman has conceived an immersive experience featuring a curated entrance to the after-party and a decorated tuk-tuk.

Universal commissions an artist annually to create an artistic experience for the BRITS, and Burman follows artists including Lakwena Maciver, Yinka Ilori, Ashton Attzs and Matt Dosa in collaborating with Universal Music on the BRIT Awards. The 2025 Chila Burman commission from Universal Music extends from the BRIT Awards invitation through to neon sculptures that will greet guests as they arrive at the after party.

I spoke to Burman as she was preparing to reveal her new commission at the BRITS after-party and asked her how the project arose, and what the creative brief was.

Chila Burman: “Well, it was my great friend Frances Morris (who was then Director of Tate Modern) who introduced me to Jonathan Badyal (Director of Communications for Universal Music UK) a young man also with Punjabi heritage. He’d seen one my tigers in Frances’ office and asked if he could meet me. Next minute you know he’s visiting me in my studio and we are eating samosa! I gave him a print for his office and he must have liked it! He invited me to last year’s Universal Music Brits after-party and a few months later he asked if I wanted to design this year’s invites. I think I said ‘yes’ very quickly. I worked on the design over Christmas, and the brief was very open. ‘Make something special for our guests that they will want to keep’. And the result is a musical and magical image with some punk pop Punjabi glamour! With the neon white tiger symbolising empowerment.”

Burman’s career has spanned more than 40 years to date, and she has become an important figure at the forefront of British contemporary art, known for an artistic oeuvre that challenges perceptions of identity, gender, and representation. Burman created one of the most talked-about installations for Tate Britain in November 2020 and was given a major solo exhibition at Compton Verney in 2024 featuring drawings, prints, collage, sculpture and neons. She also exhibited in ‘Glasstress’ at the Venice Biennale in 2024 and this year her star continues to rise with a solo exhibition Chila Welcomes You which opened at the Imperial War Museum North in January.

One of Burman’s neon tiger sculptures will soon be making an appearance at the Indian High Commission in London, and I asked if she could divulge a bit about this project and how it relates to tiger conservation: “India has done an incredible job on tiger conservation. The number of tigers there has doubled in a decade. Just remarkable. I have met the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, His Excellency Vikram Doraiswami, and know he is a wonderful advocate for the arts and cultural exchange, and he told me of his interest in wildlife conservation. So, together we thought why not display the neon tiger at the High Commission in India House? We’re working on it so watch this space.”

Burman has made a name for herself with bold neon installation’s inspired by her Punjabi heritage and her Dad’s iconic ice-cream van. Sometimes political, always joyful and exuberant, Burman’s art blends British and Indian influences and her neon installations have illuminated Covent Garden, Art After Dark and Liverpool Town Hall as well as Tate Britain.

The Universal Music commission for the Brit Awards party is the latest important commission for Burman following Netflix’s White Tiger and BYREDO’s Mumbai Noise.

Burman’s collaboration with Universal Music makes total sense for a proud British Asian with Liverpudlian roots, and I asked her if the rich musical heritage of Liverpool and Asia had much influence on her art, and what she listened to growing up: “Music is integral to my art. They are constantly bashing and bouncing off each other. I have a pretty eclectic vinyl collection and always have music on in my studio. My first album was Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills & Nash, and I am a huge fan of Astralwerks, Van Morrison, Bob Marley, and then Drum & Bass, Lovers Rock and Reggae. I love Judy Mowatt! And of course The Beatles! But at the same time I was watching 1970s Hindi films with Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar, known as the nightingale of India. And then of course later on Bhangra and all my dad’s favourite punjabi folk tunes. Proper culture clash. You get the picture!”

Burman’s art is full of references to Indian mythological deities as well as artistic movements such as Surrealism, and she tells me how the strong creative connection between music and art comes through in her work, and if any particular tracks or musicians have influenced her: “A whole range of music has influenced my neons. From JC Lodge’s ‘Someone Loves You Honey’ to Rakesh Chaurasia’s flute. There’s a sunshine neon influenced by Stevie Wonder’s ‘You Are The Sunshine Of My Life’. There’s also influences from birdsong tunes and of course Bollywood tunes. I have just landed back from the Maha Kumbh Mela in India and I am already thinking of my next set of neons!”