Liverpool-born artist hopes to put ‘fun and political’ ice cream van on Trafalgar Square plinth

An artist hoping to put an ice cream van sculpture on a pedestal in London’s Trafalgar Square has said the work is “very serious” but “also fun and political”.

Two contenders for The Fourth Plinth will see their work displayed in the square from 2026 and 2028, following a public vote.

Liverpool-born Chila Kumari Singh Burman, who recalls regularly cleaning her father’s van when she was about seven or eight, is among the seven artists shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth prize – which has commissioned work outside the National Gallery for 25 years.

Burman told the PA news agency that she is trying to reflect her father, who travelled from Calcutta, India, to the UK in In The Smile You Send Returns To You.

If chosen, the ice cream van would play Bollywood songs around the square and be decorated with images of stars from Indian cinema.

Six of the seven shortlisted candidates (left to right) Gabriel Chaile, Ruth Ewan, Thomas J Price, Veronica Ryan, Chila Kumari Singh Burman and Tschabalala Self. Credit: Aaron Chown / PA

The artist, born in 1957 and working and living in London, also said her father had a tiger on top of the van, which appears in her proposal, and “there’s smoke coming out the back because (the van is) called The Rocket because it’s got rockets”.

Burman said her work tells an “untold story” of the Indian diaspora in Liverpool as she claims her father encouraged other immigrants to come to the UK to go into the ice cream van trade.

“Nobody knows about the Indian community in Liverpool,” she added. “We (should) not be talking about ice cream (started) by Italians, (it was) Indians.

“So it’s a very serious subject and also fun and political and logical and emotional.”

The Fourth Plinth is funded by the Mayor of London with support from Arts Council England and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The proposals will be available to view online and maquettes of the proposed artworks will be on display at the National Gallery until March 17.

The first work to occupy the Fourth Plinth, Ecce Homo by British artist Mark Wallinger, was unveiled as a contemporary life-size figure of Christ in 1999.

The two latest winning works will be announced next month following the public vote, which closes on March 12.