Visiting the Titanic Exhibit

Last week, I went to see the Titanic Exhibit at the MTS Exhibition Hall.

Years ago, when I was in Halifax, I visited a Titanic museum. At the time, I was about 11 or 12 years old and addicted to learning as much about the disaster as possible. My interest began before the movie Titanic hit theatres in 1999, and something about the tragedy has always affected me in a way I can’t explain. So when the opportunity to visit another Titanic exhibit arose, I was all over it.

The Exhibition Hall definitely does a fantastic job of setting up interesting, impactful and effective exhibits that make people stop and think about what they are experiencing. There was lots of information about the tragedy featured on wall plaques, and corresponding artifacts kept under pressure-sensitive glass brought everything home.

A look inside the exhibit. (And no, I didn't take this picture. Photos are NOT allowed and they will kick you out if you try!)

At the beginning of the exhibit, each guest is handed a replica of a 1912 Titanic boarding pass. It contains the name and general information of a person who actually sailed on the ship. At the end of the exhibit, there is a wall with a list of all the passengers and crew. People are divided into their classes, and then further divided by who lived and who perished at sea.

Before leaving the exhibit, each guest can find out if the person on the boarding pass they were handed lived through the tragedy or not. Mine didn’t. He was a second-class male passenger, and I knew without having to look at the wall that his odds weren’t the greatest.

The phrase “women and children first” was used on the Titanic, and became a common practice afterwards. I can’t even imagine the terror the people on board must have felt. Visiting the Titanic Exhibit was definitely a somber and touching experience, and I strongly suggest everyone visits it before it leaves.

* Image taken from Google