A new exhibition exploring Titanic ship wreck will soon be sailing into the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. The Titanic Stories exhibition will examine the myths and tales surrounding the Titanic’s sinking on 15 April 1912.
The exhibition will be relying on survivors’ personal accounts of the disaster as well as working with private collectors and museums from all over the world to bring to life a unique experience.
Titanic Stories will feature a collection of objects and items never before seen by the public – including souvenir postcards, objects found in the wreckage, items carried by the victims and survivors, books and original posters and stills of international cinema adaptations, as well as props from James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to explore how the news of the Titanic’s sinking was portrayed by the media in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy and how it quickly became one of the most well known events in history.
Original pieces have also been commissioned by the museum for the exhibition which will go public in March. A live-scale replica of one of the lifeboats and an iceberg made from knots will also feature at Titanic Stories to commemorate the victims and survivors of the sinking of the Titanic.
The exhibition will also explore the migration stories hidden behind the Titanic. Many of the people on board were leaving behind their homes to start a new life. This will resonate with today’s events and the stories of refugees and migrants all over the world featuring in the news headlines.
Curator Claes-Göran and Guest Co-Curator Eric Kentley met in 1994 on an expedition to the Titanic wreck site.
“What fascinates us both is how the memory of this ship – and this ship alone – has become so engrained in our culture, how myths have been built around it, and how each generation retells the story”, says Eric Kentley, Guest Co-Curator.
“The National Maritime Museum Cornwall is best known for its collection of small boats, so why are we telling a story about what was in 1912 the world’s largest ship?”, says Richard Doughty, Director of the museum. “It’s because everything we know, or think we know, comes from the 706 people who left the ship in the lifeboats. Titanic Stories is a small boat story”.
The exhibition will be hosted at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth from the 8 March 2018 until the 7 January 2019.
> Naomi Round
