Tiger Express — Eastern & Oriental Express × Jacky Tsai
Raise Awareness of Wild Tigers
06th Dec 2019
Bangkok
In September 2019, Jacky Tsai transformed two carriages of the Eastern & Oriental Express into a moving canvas for wild tiger conservation. Created with the train and Save Wild Tigers, the Tiger Express brought his vividly imagined tiger landscapes onto the railway route from Bangkok to Singapore.
As a Save Wild Tigers ambassador, Tsai used the scale and movement of the train to carry an artistic message through Southeast Asia. Tigers, flowering branches and a richly layered landscape unfold along the carriages, bringing traditional Eastern imagery into conversation with his contemporary visual language.
From artwork to carriage
The original design layout reveals how the composition was translated into the train’s architecture. Windows, doors and the long horizontal rhythm of each carriage become part of the image: a continuous landscape experienced in fragments from a platform, or as a panorama when the train passes.
Original carriage design layout from the Tiger Express project archive, 2019.
“I wanted to create a visual reminder of the majesty of tigers, that in a similar way to the train, travel through Southeast Asia.” — Jacky Tsai
A launch with a shared purpose
The painted carriages were unveiled at Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong Station on 8 September 2019. Joining Tsai and Save Wild Tigers founder Simon Clinton were Kim Jones, then Artistic Director of Dior Men; Victoria Tang-Owen, then Creative Director of Shanghai Tang; All Saints singer Melanie Blatt; actress Jaime Winstone; and MasterChef winner Ping Coombes. The gathering connected art, fashion, music and food around the charity’s conservation mission.
Save Wild Tigers ambassadors and friends at the Bangkok unveiling.
A moment from the launch, in front of the newly unveiled artwork.
Victoria Tang-Owen later documented the journey in Vogue Hong Kong, recalling the platform unveiling and the experience of travelling together as Save Wild Tigers ambassadors. The project also renewed a connection with Shanghai Tang, following Tsai’s collaboration for the brand’s twentieth anniversary in 2014.
The artwork extends along the exterior of the Eastern & Oriental Express.
The Tiger Express unveiling at Hua Lamphong Station, Bangkok.
Tiger-inspired imagery across the illuminated carriage exterior.
Art in motion
The journey continued through Thailand and Malaysia towards Singapore. Away from the launch platform, the work became part of a changing landscape of rivers, greenery and towns. The photographs of the train crossing the River Kwai bridge show the scale of the painted carriages in motion.
The painted carriages crossing the River Kwai bridge.
Life aboard the Tiger Express
The archive also records the people and shared moments behind the project: guests gathering on the observation carriage and an evening around the piano in the train’s wood-panelled interior. These quieter scenes place the public artwork within the lived experience of the journey.
Guests and friends aboard the observation carriage.
An evening around the piano aboard the Eastern & Oriental Express.
The journey concluded in Singapore, where a reception at Raffles included the charity auction of Tsai’s original Tigers in Wonderland artwork. From the painted train to the fundraising event, the project used art to draw attention to wild tigers and the habitats on which they depend.
Launch, bridge and observation-car photographs: Philip North-Coombes for Save Wild Tigers. Piano-car photograph and design layout: project archive.
Victoria Tang’s Tiger Express travel diary · Vogue Hong Kong
All Aboard the Tiger Express · Solitaire