The Orient Express Puts Art Back on the Rails

It was in the early hours of October 8, 1883, that the Austro-Hungarian steam train emerged from the Bosphorus to enter into Constantinople Station in present-day Istanbul. On board, 24 travelers had just accomplished a historical voyage. This route was the first for the Orient Express, a train imagined by Georges Nagelmackers to unite East with West in an unprecedentedly short amount of time: two to three days at most. By creating a link between Paris and Constantinople, with Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, and other European cities in between, the train only ran twice per week on what was then the very first international railway. In the 20s and 30s, it was the privileged mode of transport for the crowned heads of Europe, aristocrats, and celebrities. It was nicknamed “The Train of Kings, the King of Trains”. But two World Wars would put an end to the Orient Express, just as aviation was first appearing.

A regular service between Istanbul and Athens definitively ceased in 1977 due to crushing competition from the airplane. And yet, several years later, one British entrepreneur, Sir James Sherwood, would decide to bring the legend of the Orient Express back to life. Indeed, a number of pens helped to forge its reputation: from Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express to Ian Fleming’s daring James Bond escapade in From Russia With Love, the train has served as an illustrious decor on more than one occasion. With restored original materials, Sir James Sherwood put a new version of the train back on its tracks; it would soon be considered an icon of luxury travel in Asia. Today, travel group Belmond has decided to renew the Orient Express experience once more by initiating an unprecedented journey alongside a number of creative souls all bound together within the same sensorial experience.

Until April 28, two of the train’s emblematic cars will host a fascinating artwork created by Singaporean street artist Rajesh Kumar; this unique work is called The Koi Pond. Incarnating the joy of traveling, movement, and being reunited, this artwork is a visual surprise that accompanies the magnificent landscapes of Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand while the train rushes through the region. “Koi ponds always fascinated me. The bursts of color from these fish in the water evoked a palette of emotions and I felt like they perfectly incarnated the spirit of Eastern and the Orient Express,” confides Rajesh Kumar. Giving a new meaning to art in movement, Belmond is offering from January to April then from September to October a 2-3 night journey between Singapore and Bangkok for 82 passengers on board luxurious cabins. Sometimes it’s the journey that counts.