Friday, June 25, 2010

Titanic melbourne exhibiton


Titanic comes to Melbourne .The titanic exhibition is epic and outstanding due not to the fact of seeing a few rather plain bits and pieces from an old ship at the bottom of the sea, but made grand because it shows what we are most interested in : the human spirit. It cannot be seen but felt and that’s what the story of the titanic does to people .By brining the actual remnants of not only our past but our tragic past into arms length its like we are touching history and recapturing not only the glamour of the titanic and its people but the feelings that go along with tragic tales that somehow human nature has some morbid curiosity about.
The Melbourne titanic exhibition starts off as you walk though the recreation of one of the first class hallways, brining you out into the infamous stairway,there you are greeted with a staff member that gives you the opportunity to have a photo taken on the stairwell min 2 photos at a cost of $25.I was given the explanation that you aren’t allowed to take photos in the exhibition due to the flash photography degrading the artifacts, truly understandable, yet I don’t see how this would cause injury to a replica item .Thus must be a marketing ploy to gain a few extra dollars from their fellow patrons as no one im sure could pass up having a photo on the stairwell. A truly memorable moment that I think is also a historical point that much like the titanic passengers in their day paying a fortune so we are still doing 100 years on.
Once past the stairwell you are then amongst the artifacts and more replica scenes, due to the popularity of the exhibition it was rather crowded and at time exhausting trying to merely read a card referring to what the exhibit was .The written information is ever so important in an exhibition like this as it’s the story behind the item that gives it its wow factor. I would suggest to the promoters next time have more than one card in the display box. Seeing some of the items in such amazing cond was exciting to see and one item I thought amazing was a wooded makeup jar with its powder content still inside. It is said items such as paper and wood were keep in such condition if they were found in the owners leather bags. In the heart of the exhibition is a real large iceberg /ice block and the room is blue and cold to match. It was great to create the mood of what the people on the titanic would of felt. As you touch the cold ice block, I find out that sea water freezes colder than fresh water so as cold as the ice block was imagine being in water colder than that, one could see how drowning was defiantly not the only way to die that night yet mostly from hypothermia. I found the clothing was one of the most interesting parts of the exhibition and I noted how small the clothing was in stature of the people of these times.
I found the titanic to be a very visual and intriguing exhibition yet could of done more to put forward more interactive parts or shown a human portrayal video, rather than I suppose more about the ship itself as was shown in many short videos there . But as one can say don’t miss out on being as close to the titanic as you will ever be. As I gaze upon a piece of iron that was once the titanic I wonder if she also bought a few ghosts of her past back with her clinging on like barnacles and watching us also in wonder as to what we find so fascinating about a ship that sunk 100 years ago that became their eternal tomb.

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