Meet Iona’s artists
Our new ship Iona will showcase more than 4,600 works of art by 61 artists, making her home to the world’s largest floating art collection. Read on to meet three of the artists whose works will be featured, and find out how you can win your way to Iona’s naming ceremony and have your own artwork shown on board.
Iona is a ship of records and firsts, from her jaw-dropping SkyDome (the first of its kind in the industry) to her status as our most environmentally friendly ship yet. Fitting, then, that she’ll also be home to the world’s largest floating art collection.
Iona will showcase more than 4,600 artworks when she launches in May 2020. The multi-million pound collection is being curated by art expert Tom Tempest-Radford (who also selected the art for Britannia) to complement and enhance the ship’s interior design.
Tom Tempest-Radford
With such a mammoth task at hand, where does the process of selecting the artworks begin? Tom says: ‘First, we need to understand the brief for the entire ship and for the individual rooms and spaces; from there, we brief our art researchers and start looking at thousands of artists before whittling down the list to the best of the best.’
Continuing the long-held P&O Cruises tradition of supporting British artists, the majority of the work will be sourced in the UK. Much of the art will reflect key elements and characteristics behind Iona’s design, and the collection will take inspiration from the sea, the wonder of nature and the sense of outdoors.
‘The sea is the star on Iona,’ says Tom. ‘I’ve chosen each artist due to the quality of their work and sheer passion for their chosen subjects, as well as the ability to match their pieces to specific areas on Iona.’
The art will vary in style and form and will include paintings, photography, mixed media, reliefs, glass, sculpture and textiles. Some of the 61 artists will make single artworks for Iona, while others will be commissioned to make hundreds of pieces. In some cases this will involve an entirely new approach to creating bespoke pieces of art on a large scale.
‘We’ve looked for the best quality art by artists who are consistent and who are passionate about what they do’, says Tom. ‘When guests step on board Iona for the first time, I hope they will feel an overall sense of real quality – a “wow” moment from the large commissions and a sensitivity from some of the works in the quieter spaces.’
Meet the artists
We searched the country to find the perfect pairings for Iona. Here, we meet three of the key artists who are creating incredible works for our new ship