25
2012
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at ArtScience Museum
An article by Amelia Chen
Everyone should go. No, it’s not about Jack and Rose… the other stories will move you instead.
It costs $24 for standard tickets ($20 for Singaporeans). If you’re an OCBC cardholder you get to receive an additional 20% off. I topped up an additional $5 for the hour-long documentary “Ghosts of the Abyss” directed by James Cameron (remember Avatar?). The prices were all worth it.
Titanic was re-discovered in 1985.. and “Ghosts of the Abyss” was shot in 2001. Titanic is expected to corrode and disappear within the next few decades due to the ‘rusticles’ corroding the ship’s metal. The documentary showed how these explorers travelled down to the bottom of the ocean to explore the wreck. It felt creepy, yet from the remains we could tell how beautiful the ship was.
Can you imagine? A third-class ticket would have cost $40, about $900 today, and the first class ticket costed $4500 back then, equivalent to about $100k today. (I would still only be a third-class passenger if I had boarded the ship). The exhibition recreated some of the iconic sections of the ship and it really is grand!
However things got sadder as we proceeded. There were displays of the possessions and the stories of these characters. People who saved hard to board the ship, leaving to seek better life elsewhere. People on their way to meet their loved ones. I teared a little when they showed a wall of the passengers’ names – those who had survived and those who hadn’t. Needless to say, the ones on the third-class and the crew had the least percentage of survivors.
My favourite and most memorable character is Ida Straus. ”I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so we will die: together.” Who knows what we would have done in such times of danger?
The most tear-jerking quote, for me, was “Women and children first!” Someone was shouting these last few words over and over again…. They meant my own safety but they also meant the greatest loss I’ve ever suffered – the life of my husband.”
This is not an exhibition to be missed. Go and experience for yourself the story of Titanic.
No related posts.
About the Author:
@AmeliaChen enjoys indulging in her penchant for all things social media, branding, and web design. Citizen of the web since 2000. In her free time, she designs paper goods, does social work and is trying to maintain a healthy diet.
