If you are fascinated by the Titanic -- thefamous, ill-fated ocean liner which sank on April 15, 1912 --your shiphas come in. "Titanic: The Exhibition" makes its world premiere todayat the Museum of Science and Industry. From a 13-ton, 13 by 20 foot portion of Titanic's hull to a modestteapot, "Titanic: The Exhibition" features more than 200 objectsretrieved from the ship's wreckage. The crow's nest bell, White StarLine logo dishware, sherry glasses, champagne bottles, and personalbelongings -- such as handwritten letters, ornate jewelry, a suitcase,clothing, spectacles and more -- stand as silent witnesses to one ofthe worst maritime tragedies in history.
"This is the largest collection of Titanic artifacts recovered fromthe ocean floor ever to be displayed in one location," says JoeShacter, the museum's Director of Exhibit Projects. "The artifactsplay a key role in bringing the ship and the events surrounding it tolife through real objects. We've also created `true' experiences,involving sight, sound and touch, so our visitors can experience first-hand what life was like on board the Titanic."For instance, SFX Family Entertainment, the company that secured therights to use the objects in the touring exhibit, has installed in themuseum detailed replicas of the ship's interior.
An elegantfirst-class stateroom, a simple third-class cabin, and the engine roomare perfect settings for the recovered artifacts. And for all of the Leonardo DiCaprio fans who swooned over the 1997 blockbuster movie "Titanic," there is a recreation of the ship's grand staircase, with domed skylight and a piece of the original staircase on display. Theonly thing missing is Celine Dion crooning "My Heart Will Go On."Though you won't find DiCaprio or Dion here, you will find actors inearly 1900s period costume. They depict Titanic passengers and tellstories of shipboard life.On a more somber note, Titanic's tragic story also comes alive in alarge wall of ice, which visitors can touch. The wall is actuallywarmer than the frigid water of the Atlantic Ocean in which more than1500 people died when the "unsinkable" Titanic hit an iceberg, brokein two, and sank, just days into its 1912 maiden voyage.The ship sat on the ocean floor until 1987, when salvage efforts began.
At the exhibit's Conservation Lab, visitors see what it takesto conserve artifacts. Perhaps no one knows more about this thanStephane Pennec, a scientist with LP3 Conservation in France, whoworks closely with RMS Titanic Inc., the company that owns rights toTitanic salvage operations and objects. Pennec has accompanied two ofthe five salvage operations and personally oversees both theconservation and exhibit placement of each object recovered from thewreckage.
"It's important that people understand that Titanic's objects havebeen on the ocean floor," says Pennec, who specializes in the conservation of metal objects. "Rather than restoring or retouchingthem, we've tried a minimalist approach by stabilizing them in termsof degradation, which is actually the deep meaning of `conserve.'
"For instance, we remove chloride from metal to stop corrosion andremove salt from ceramics and glass to stop flaking surfaces," Pennecexplains. "By cleaning up a little -- not polishing to perfection--the integrity and experience of the objects are preserved."Pennec and a 2- to 3-person team from LP3 are the only ones who handleTitanic's objects for exhibit placement. It took about 22 hours forthem to personally set each of the pieces into various display cases.The objects will remain untouched until Pennec and his team returnwhen the exhibit closes.Pennec cites the 13-ton steel hull, nicknamed the "Big Piece," as oneof the exhibit's highlights. It is the largest Titanic object everrecovered and is on display for the first time in a museum settingsince it was retrieved from the wreck in 1998. Believed to be theouter wall of two first-class cabins, it still has glass in someportholes.
The exhibit also portrays the Eastland disaster in the Chicago River,which occurred on July 24, 1915, three years after the Titanic sank.More than 800 people died after 2,500 passengers completed boarding,when the ship rolled portside first into the river as it was leavingthe dock. The Museum links the two tragedies in the exhibit becausethere is a genuine connection between them.With only 16 lifeboats and four small collapsible boats for the some2,228 passengers and crew, the Titanic did not have an adequate numberof lifesaving vessels. After the Titanic sank, there was an outcry for stricter rules regarding lifeboats. The LaFollette's Seaman's Act of1915 stipulated that the number of passengers on a ship, not the grosstonnage, would determine the number of lifeboats necessary.
"The problem was that the Eastland was a historically unstablevessel," says Shacter. "The lifeboats that were required to be addedmade it even more dangerously top heavy. Soon after the passengers began boarding, the ship began listing back and forth. The extraweight of the lifeboats helped cause it to tip over."The Eastland disaster claimed more lives than any other single eventin Chicago history, and is, as Shacter calls it, "Chicago's ownTitanic."
"With both the Eastland and the Titanic, it is ironic that humankind'stechnological knowledge can never make up for the frailty of humanjudgment," says Shacter. "Of all of Titanic's poignant stories andlong-lasting repercussions on the world, just imagine what the shipitself must have been, how proud each person must have been who workedon it and who traveled on it. It all ended so quickly, so tragically.Just think, the ship never even made it across the ocean once. It justtugs at your heart strings."
"Titanic: The Exhibition," February 18 -September 4, Museum of Scienceand Industry, 57th Street and Lake Shore Drive. 9:30 -4 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9:30 a.m. -5:30 p.m. Friday - Sunday. Adults $10; Children$8; plus general museum admission of Adults $7; Seniors $6; Children$3.50; under 3 free. Advance tickets and exhibit hotline:773-684-1414, ext. 2500.
