Whenever I hear the word Titanic I am instantly reminded of how sad I felt while watching the film, then the Titanic theme song, ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion, starts playing in my mind.
It was April 10, 1912, and there was an air of excitement along the docks in Southampton, England. Passengers were boarding the wonder ship - the Titanic. One of the passengers, Captain Edward J.Smith, is quoted saying “ I could not conceive of any disaster happening to this vessel…modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”
The exhibition starts off by giving a history of why and how the ship sank and the excitement that filled the passengers. When entering the exhibition you are met with darkness that recreates the evening that the ship went down. This automatically changed my mood and I felt as if I was entering the ship itself.
There are glass displays of the remains from the shipwreck which were excavated from below the sea, like corroded stainless steel pots. Passengers’ belongings, such as a pair of expensive leather shoes which survived the harsh conditions of the sea, hand mirrors, paper money, and crockery are also part of the display.
As you walk around through the dark passages, you hear the sound of the ship creaking and the flowing water, which transports you to the actual night. I got lost in the moment and got goosebumps as I continued reading the quotes on the walls by the passengers. Their descriptions of their feelings of fear and the sad looks on the mother’s faces as they were being separated from their children almost brought me to tears.
Another artefact that stood out for me was the recreation of the iceberg, which allows you to get closer to the events of that fatal night. It has imprints of the drowning passengers’ hands as they tried to hang on to anything they could find.
I noticed the vast difference in the cabins. First class passengers were given premier treatment and even had a gymnasium that they could use for $1.00 about (R13.38) an hour, according to one of the infomation boards. Third class passengers travelling on the Titanic were mostly European immigrants looking for a better life in America. Their cabins were very basic and it is evident that they were using the ship purely for travelling purposes - unlike the first class passengers who used it to enjoy its luxurious offerings.
The captain describes how they started receiving iceberg reports from S.S. Meslala at 9:30pm. The ship continued at 21 knots, close to top speed, and the moonless night made it difficult for the captain steering her to see. They proceeded to see much heavier icebergs, which kept increasing in number until the ship stopped and they realised that they were completely surrounded.
It became clear to the passengers that they were going to die. Some of them started preparing for their death. A quote from one of the 1st class passengers, Benjamin Guggeheim, said “ We are dressed in our best and prepared to go down like gentlemen”.
News of the sinking Titanic only reached the people back home after a couple of days and in fragments.
The exhibition ends with a noticeboard listing the names and numbers of passengers that survived, were saved, or got lost during that fateful night.
For the first time in South Africa, Titanic – The Artifact Exhibition Expo is on display, in Johannesburg at Rosebank Zone between the 18 September and the 8 November 2015, and Cape Town at the V&A Waterfront between 27 November and March 2016.
Tickets are priced as follows: Adults R135 (18 years +). Children R85 (5-17 years). Students and Pensioners R90. Family package for 4: R320 total (thus R80 per person).
For more information, go here .
Kelebogile Nondzaba