Thanks to director James Cameron and many others that came both before and after him, we have all heard and been exposed to the horrors of the sinking of the Titanic through books, songs, documentaries, and film. Over a hundred years ago, on the night of April 14th 1912, disaster struck the liner that had been proclaimed to be unsinkable, the Titanic, plunging its 2,228 passengers and crew into the icy waters of the Atlantic.
The maiden voyage of the liner had been much celebrated as it was the largest ship afloat at the time. It carried not only some of the wealthiest and most important people in the world of the age, but also hundreds of emigrants from around Great Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia who were hoping for a new life in America. However, on the night of April 14th, the Titanic struck an iceberg and went down shortly after with over half of its passengers and crew drowned. The ship had been thought unsinkable, and had not been provided with enough lifeboats to guarantee the survival of all on board. Moreover, the ship's crew had not received adequate training on what to do if the ship went down, and half the lifeboats available had not even been used to capacity, meaning many more could have been saved that weren't. The SS California, which had been within sight of the Titanic, ignored the liner's distress calls, and help only arrived many hours later after the majority of those unable to secure a lifeboat had either drowned or frozen to death. Thus, almost every contributing factor to the sinking of the Titanic and the deaths of those on board (down even to the crash, which investigators in retrospect decided could have been avoided) make the Titanic one of the greatest transportation tragedies of the ages.
"Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" tells the story of the "unsinkable" Titanic and allows you to relive the legend that never was. The exhibition features authentic artifacts that were pulled from the surface of the ocean floor where the Titanic went down. The exact location of the wreck on the ocean floor was only discovered in 1985, at which point divers went down and recovered priceless objects thought to have been lost forever and revealed many tragic and poignant stories. With this exhibit you can not only learn about the events of that horrifc night, but also remind yourself of the stories of courage and humanity that great tragedies often bring about. You will be able to explore the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class rooms on board and see for yourself the difference in the living conditions between the rich and famous traveling for pleasure, and those bringing their entire meager life savings to America to try and build a new and better life for themselves and their families. You will even become acquainted with some of passengers and crew of the Titanic and their personal stories.
Having opened at the Amsterdam Expo on November 14th, the Exhibition will be on show until May 11th 2014.
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