Viking Star Art Collection

EXPLORERS’ LOUNGE |

EXPLORERS’ LOUNGE | DECK 7–8 STELLA POLARIS Stella Polaris was built for The Bergen Steamship Company, or Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskap (BDS). Launched on September 11, 1926, the groundbreaking ship was christened with a Latin name, meaning “The North Star,” the brightest star in the constellation Little Bear. At 416 feet long (127 m) with a clipper-bow, a yacht-like appearance and a capacity of 200 passengers in first class, Stella Polaris was history’s first vessel custom made for leisure cruising. Since the completion of the “Roaring 20s” gem, her distinctly curved bow has influenced many other vessels, including some of the Royal Viking Line fleet, once headed by Torstein Hagen, founder of Viking Cruises. Today, its beautiful profile sets the standard still, most recently on our very own Viking Star. Indeed, you could say that Stella Polaris is the bow that launched a thousand ships—and none more elegantly than on Viking Star. 12

EXPLORERS’ LOUNGE | DECK 7–8 JUSTINE SMITH 1971 x UK x INKJET PRINT In her recent work, Justine Smith is concerned with the concept of money and how it is a part of almost every aspect of our lives. She is interested in money as a conduit of power and also in the value systems with which we surround it. On a physical level, a banknote is just a piece of paper, but it is what a banknote actually represents that is central to Smith’s work. Paper has always been a primary material in the work of Justine Smith, and through her collages, prints and sculptures she examines our relationship with money in a political, moral and social sense, while also exploiting the physical beauty of the notes. OLD EUROPE | 2007 13