Special Edition: Face To Face With The Titanic!

What is it like to see the Titanic? I mean really see it 3800m down under the sea, in front of your eyes? SimplyFab talks to Tom Zaller, the Director of the ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands, who travelled 12 hours down to the botttom of the ocean to see the imposing wreck of the Titanic, just to prepare for the Titanic Exhibition which opens at the ArtScience Museum 29 October.

SimplyFab: Why did you go down to the wreck?
Zaller: I was invited to dive the wreck because of my work on the exhibitions and knowledge of the collection of artifacts and the Titanic.

 

SimplyFab: Can you give us a quick description of what you saw, and the scale of the ship so we can imagine it?
Zaller: Descending 3800m to the bottom of the North Atlantic is an emotional rollercoaster. There is an incredible sense of adventure mixed with uncertainty, excitement and a little fear. Staying confined within a two-meter wide steel capsule can be a nerve-racking, claustrophobic experience, but the adventure helped the 12-hour journey pass in what seemed like just five minutes.  Looking out of my six-inch porthole from the inside, I almost felt the icy chill of the Atlantic Ocean run down my back during the initial plunge into the turquoise blue water.

As we descended, the shafts of sunlight narrowed, then finally dissolved into the depths, and the only light source down there was the subtle glow of the instrument panel. Over the next two hours, our anticipation grew with our descent into the complete blackness of the bottom of the ocean. When we touched the bottom and established our buoyancy, we moved forward and arrived in front of the Titanic, in all her majesty!

My window was less than a meter away from the ship as we traveled the bow and stern and explored every crevasse of the mighty ship: over the famous prow where Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslett played out that unforgettable scene; over the crows nest where Fredrick Fleet rang the bell and hollered “Iceberg dead ahead!”; looking down into the cargo hatch; peeking into Captain Smith’s bathtub and cabin; down where the Grand Staircase once stood; and under those incredible propellers! The uniquely amazing thing about this wreck site is that the Titanic stands upright and is as proud now as she was almost 100 years ago on her sailing day. She truly was and remains an incredible sight!

 

SimplyFab: How did you feel when you saw the Titanic close up?
Zaller: It was an incredible adventure, and a real honour and privilege to be one of the few human beings to have been down to the wreck site and seen the vessel up close. But it was also very peaceful, being down there with just your thoughts for company. And every so often, my thoughts would turn to the passengers and crew on board that fateful night, and what they must have gone through. It was a strong brew of emotions – the thrill of seeing this amazing ship at such close detail, underpinned by the poignant human stories the wreck told.

 

SimplyFab: What was the most emotionally impactful thing you saw there?
Zaller: For me, it must have been a child’s shoe that reminded me of the incredible loss of life, as well as the heroic and tragic stories of the passengers and crew. Being a father of three, I cannot imagine a greater tragedy than the loss of a child.

I was also struck by a piece of coal, as odd as this sounds. Many of the passengers who were on the Titanic were originally scheduled to be on other ships, but because of a coal strike that was on at the time, several passengers were transferred from other ships onto the Titanic.  Funny how something like this – seemingly trivial and inanimate – could seal someone’s fate forever.

 

SimplyFab: How did that experience help you in curate this exhibit?
Zaller: It was incredibly helpful on so many levels, but most of all it reminds me of how important it is, through the exhibition, to try and take people there to experience what life must have been like on that ship as well as what it feels like to be next to such a legendary ship. Each object tells a story. The amazing thing about shipwrecks is they are a snapshot in time – you literally go back to a particular moment when you see the wreck. The Titanic, at over 880 feet long and over 46,000 tons, was the largest ship ever built – and she is still down there, proudly sitting on the seabed of the North Atlantic. Over 1,500 passengers and crew were on board that ship, each with a story to tell. The wreck is powerful that way – once you’ve seen it, you want to tell all of its stories.

 

SimplyFab: What do you want people to take away with them after seeing this exhibition?
Zaller: I want everyone to appreciate the Titanic’s incredible stories and how they live on today. I want people to remember that this is a true story, to appreciate the opulence and luxury of this incredible vessel as well as the journey and stories of her passengers and crew. After all, we can all relate to the Titanic in some way.  We are all passengers on the Titanic!

Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition opens at the ArtScience Museum on 29 October 2011, and runs through the ship’s 100th anniversary in April 2012. Don’t miss it. This amazing exhibition features 275 artifacts rescued from the Titanic resting 3,800m deep in the ocean. Read more about it in our earlier story http://www.simplyfabulicious.com/titanic-zheng-he-all-things-historical

About Tom Zaller
Tom Zaller is a 20-year veteran in his field, and has overseen all aspects of  blockbuster exhibitions including: Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, BODIES…The Exhibition, BODIES Revealed, Our Body: The Universe Within, Star Trek: The Exhibition, and the highly acclaimed Dialog in the Dark. His careful handling of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition has led to the successful production of over 100 international and domestic Titanic exhibitions, making Titanic the world’s most popular exhibition, engaging over 24 million visitors worldwide. He wades deep into every project he undertakes, no pun intended. To gain a better understanding of the Titanic, he spent three weeks at sea aboard a Russian research vessel in the summer of 2000, from where he did this mind-blowing 12-hour dive to the bottom of the ocean, descending 12,500 feet to be among the few in the world to witness the Titanic first hand and up close! Wow!