Exhibition brings famous unsinkable ship to Atlanta

The Titanic has come to Atlanta. Well parts of it have, at least. The Atlanta Civic Center is currently hosting Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, a collection of over 300 artifacts recovered from the wreckage as well as some re-creations and general information about the Titanic and her tragic maiden voyage.

The exhibition is, on the whole, a mixed bag. It ranges from the legitimately moving, to the fascinating, to the downright dull.

The exhibit is divided into a series of chambers, each detailing a different aspect of Titanic and her story.

After walking past the bell that was sounded on the Titanic's fateful night, guests learn about the construction and design of the great ship. This may not have been the best room to open with because it is not of much interest to anyone but the most zealous students of the Titanic's history or of ship design. Various schematics and ship parts are on display, but there is nothing particularly compelling about watertight gaskets.

Next, visitors see artifacts and re-creations that give a sense of how people lived on Titanic, from the first class all the way down to steerage and even the crew. Personal effects as well as fine dishware and jewelry are on display to help viewers get a grasp of just how opulent the Titanic really was.

This is probably one of the more interesting areas of the exhibit because it helps the viewer feel more connected to the actual people involved.

Still, though, there are missed opportunities for improvement.

Re-creations of iconic rooms or locations have become fairly standard in these sorts of exhibitions, and Titanic does not fail to supply, but one wonders why a first-class stateroom (which looks an awful lot like any other nice hotel room) was recreated, but the now famous grand staircase is relegated to a grainy black and white photo.

The exhibit then moves on to a timeline of the fateful night culminating in the form of an actual iceberg that can be touched. The iceberg is obviously there mostly for kids, but it is still a nice addition.

After that, visitors learn about efforts to find and recover artifacts from the wreckage as well as the world's reaction to the disaster itself.

Parts of the exhibit feel like they were made on the cheap. A pair of TVs stacked on top of one another playing clips from a Discovery Channel special about the disaster come to mind, but generally the exhibition keeps pace with other such showcases that can be found out there.

The music, however, is severely lacking.

Though the songs played throughout the exhibit are taken from the White Star Line's playlist, most range from the merely ignorable all the way to outright annoying.

It seems to exist largely to make people who didn't spring for the audio tour regret their decision.

Also, the artifacts themselves are arranged in a rather strange manner.

The perfume that was recovered that visitors can actually smell and the unopened champagne bottle with sparkling white still visible inside are both entrancing and captivating, but who cares about a series of clothespins?

Some of the artifacts are obviously filler and only really serve to disappoint between the more interesting aspects of the exhibit.

All in all, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition is an interesting and educational trip back in time to capture one of history's most memorable tragedies, but it is not without its flaws.

And these flaws go a long way towards derailing the experience even if they don't quite succeed.

More information about Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition can be found at rmstitanic.net.