Titanic: The Artifacts Exhibition

An element of high-stakes mystery awaits everyone boarding Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, running April 14-October 14 at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.

Opening 95 years to the day that the Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean and became one of the iconic man-vs.-nature stories of the 20th century, the show displays Titanic artifacts gathered in expeditions between 1987 and 2004. The objects are situated in exhibition spaces that recreate various The Titanic at dock before its fateful voyageonboard locations—first- and third-class corridors and cabins, the outdoor café and boiler room.

Viewing the 281 artifacts recovered from 3,800 metres below the Atlantic is a trip in itself. The Royal BC Museum is the first venue in Western Canada to present this assembly of artifacts collected by RMS Titanic Inc.—the only company in the world authorized to recover artifacts from the Titanic wreck site. What truly animates the Victoria version of the show, however, are the lengths to which Royal B.C. Museum programmers have gone to connect visitors with the human dimension of the story. That’s where the mystery comes in.

“As each member of the public enters the exhibition they will be given the I.D. of a passenger on the ship,” says Tim Willis, the museum’s director of exhibitions. “It isn’t until they exit the exhibition that they will find out if they died or were one of the lucky ones.”

Bronze cherub believed to have
graced the aft First Class
Grand StaircaseThe odds favour a tragic outcome. Over half of the 3,000 people aboard perished. Those visitors holding a third-class boarding pass on the way up the gangplank have a reason for white knuckles. Walking through the exhibit, in character, the viewer might recognize some familiar items from
the past.

“It’s not necessarily the monumental artifacts that are the most powerful,” says Willis. “It’s the ones that are very personal. Like a purse. Or the contents of a suitcase.”

One visitor will draw the name of an especially unlucky young gent.

“One of the most interesting examples is a set of carpentry tools belonging to a young British tradesman,” says Willis. “The tools made it on to the Titanic. However, he got very drunk the night before sailing, was kidnapped, sold into slavery and put on a boat to China.”

That’s the thing about travelling. You never know where you might end up.