Fine Art
About Titanic – The Artifact Exhibition
The sinking of the mighty RMS Titanic in April 1912 is an event forever enshrined in American (not to mention international) history, memorialized in song, literature and, of course, the blockbuster film named for the doomed ship. Part of the public's continuing fascination with the event is that in addition to tragedy it represents heroism on the part of the crew, and survival for those who lived to tell the tale. People can engage with the story of the Titanic on all of those levels, and that's where Titanic – The Artifact Exhibition comes in. It allows you to walk into that maritime world for a while, view actual historic items from the ship and interact with the Titanic experience in an unforgettable way.
Probably the most immediately arresting artifact included in the exhibition is the aptly dubbed The Big Piece. It's an enormous, 15-ton section of the Titanic's hull, which lends a sense of the massive ship's scale. But there are plenty of other items recovered from the ship, including postcards, money, playing cards, dishes and personal effects. And in addition to artifacts, re-creations help to bring the whole experience home to visitors. You'll hear accounts of the passengers' own experiences on the Titanic, see their individual boarding passes for the boat and visit startlingly realistic simulations of different parts of the ship. The promenade deck, the staircase and the sleeping quarters are reproduced in dazzling detail. You can even view a re-creation of the huge iceberg that brought so many of the Titanic's passengers to their grim, terrible fate and get a visceral understanding of the forces of nature that were at work. It all adds up to an emotional experience that's simultaneously sad and inspiring, and the exhibit makes you feel as if you're taking part in a historic saga.
The Titanic Artifact Exhibition is captivating from start to finish. It is laid out tastefully, with an abundance of respect for those who were lost. It was interesting to learn how the Titanic was designed and built, the excitement surrounding her maiden voyage, and getting to know some of the passengers and their horrific experiences that fateful night. Definitely a must-see!
You begin with a boarding pass of one of the actual passengers. You have your photo taken in front of a green screen (staircase shot). Next, you begin your walk through. There are photos and descriptions of what went into the building of the Titanic along with histories of the people in charge of the work and those doing the work. There are photos of how each class slept, ate, and was entertained. There are actual artifacts recovered and photos of actual passengers, crew, and personal items belonging to them. There are stories of how the coal shortage affected the captain, crew, and some passengers with giving them no choice in which ship to take. This is all on display with sounds of the engine room being piped through the exhibit and the temperature being made realistic to where you are aboard the ship. The sounds change as you walk through to different parts of the ship as well as the temperature. This adds to the feeling of your actually being on board the Titanic. There are videos made of the actual discovery of the sunken Titanic and a video of a model reinactment of the way the ship struck the iceburg and the compartments that were damaged resulting in their flooding and the sinking and ripping of the ship as it sunk. There is a portion of an iceberg in the exhibit which you are allowed to touch. It is also a model of what was available to the fleeing passengers in the icy waters, complete with holes from their finger(s) being forced into them to try and stay afloat. They allow you to place your fingers into these holes to feel how impossible it was to do it for any real length of time. There are finger holes from very large, man-sized hands; smaller sized holes for women; and even very tiny children sized finger holes. This is all very daunting and solemn. There is a scale sized model of the Titanic on display as well. When exiting there is a listing of all the passengers, by class of their tickets, stating whether they survived or not. You look up your boarding pass passenger's name to find out whether or not you would have survived your trip aboard the Titanic. It was very informative, educational, and emotional on a level that can not be brought to you without your actually being there and walking through it. Well worth the cost of admission.
Nice exhibition that provides many details about Titanic and people on it.
Definitely worth visiting this exhibit. Brings the reality of what really happened into focus. We went on a Wednesday morning, so it wasn't crowded. We could have just bought our tickets at the door instead of ahead of time and saved some money.
The artifacts were surreal at first. Then towards the end, it hits you: the tragedy, the lost of life. It was a great exhibition. Everyone should see it.
I expected to have more of an interactive experience with the exhibit, other than just walking through like a typical museum .
We took my husband to the exhibit for Father's Day. While some of the exhibits were interesting (the contents of passenger's luggage, for instance,) most were mundane (floor tiles, window frames, paper money.) Often the text of one exhibit was repeated virtually verbatim at another. At $30 per ticket, I expected more artifacts and much more information about the passengers. Floor tiles are fine...but it is the human story that makes the sinking of the Titanic worthy of notice 100 years later. We were disappointed.
Truly enjoyed this 100 yr. anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. There were a lot of exhibits that I had not seen before such as the handbag and contents of and a lot of the clothing worn. Loved the passengers names being on the tickets and info on their history , also. A wonderful way to honor their memory! Wish there were more historical displays in our area . It seems they are too few and far between, unfortunately.
The event was a little mind blowing. Trying to imagine the people and their reaction to the emergency that ended so many lives. Very well put together and held our total interest throughout. Quite emotional when we reached the end of the exhibit and found the ones who survived and the ones that were lost...heart wrenching. A great piece of history for us all to savor.
Enjoyed the viewing very much. Very organized. I was surprised at all the items being in as a good of shape as they were.
I don't understand why you would have to pay for the Walkie talkies for $5.59 after paying dang near $30 to get into the Exhibit which, by the way, had NO TOUR GUIDE. I made the most of it. There is definitely room for improvement with regards to the staff. In addition to that there was No AIR CONDITIONING!!!
OK, I read all the reviews prior to seeing the exhibit...too hot inside...too short...not worth the money..blah, blah, blah. I will agree it was pricey and way too warm inside...but if you are a true Titanic fan...WELL worth the cost. I took my wife and eighteen year old son and we were all very pleased with the artifacts and the layout presenting them. Heck, my teenager even stopped texting for an hour! One young boy even fainted at the "wall of the dead"...not sure if it was the heat or the raw emotion of seeing the list of victims. All in all, a very informative and moving experience that I highly recommend.
The displays were outstanding. We wish there would have been more of the 6000 artifacts thus far recovered. But the magnitude of the event still made the display's compelling. We would recommend it to those with a history bent. The paper displays (i.e. money) could not be seen very well because they necessarily have to be in semi darkness to protect them. So it would have been nice if there were pictures with lighting of what we were looking at nearby so we could see and then compare to the originals.
The Titanic Exhibit had items that I have not seen in the three other exhibits that I have visited. It was educational, informative, and fun. My grandchildren really enjoyed the exhibit.
I took my 10 year old grandson to this exhibition and we both enjoyed everything about it so much! He has been very interested in everything about the Titanic since he was old enough to understand what it is and what happened to it. When we went inside he began telling me who the many personalities were that are referenced throughout the exhibition and everything excited him. I felt the dedication to these souls who perished and who survived was incredible and cannot imagine anyone not finding the whole exhibiition totally worthwhile.
Interesting personal objects in the collection. Audio guide was worthwhile. Only took about an hour to see entire exhibit,
The Atlantic Station venue was a convenient locale for this show. Artifacts were first class and well positioned and interestingly described. For the ticket price however, I would have like to have seen more quantity displayed. Also, the air-conditioning system was not sufficiently cool and resulted in many of the customers having to hand-fan themselves.
Definitely worth going to see... one of the most interesting exhibits I've seen in years!
Thrilling!!! I never expected the boiler room being my fav area. The sound effects were totally cool. I went to the Boston exhibit years ago and this was better. Thx
I can't put into words the amount or degree of emotions this exhibition brought into my life! For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by all things Titanic. Nothing prepared me for this....I was amazed and at the same time, very humbled. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see such splendors! It is forever etched in my memory!
