“Exhibition sensation! "Titanic": find yourself on the legendary ship! " So the organizers of the event attracted interested public to their project. Finding yourself on the Titanic is, no doubt, interesting. But the main thing is that it is now absolutely safe. So crowds of people flocked to Afimall City: the Titanic exhibition left no one indifferent.
What was this ship like
The Titanic is a tragically famous cruise ship. At the time of its launch, and this happened in 1911, it was the largest passenger ship in the world.
First class tickets for this ship cost between 1,100 and 49,000 dollars (converted to the 2013 exchange rate). At the disposal of passengers were restaurants, tennis courts, smoking rooms, dance floors, squash halls. A private deck 12 meters long adjoined one of the most expensive cabins. The decoration of the first class decks, halls and rooms on the Titanic shone with gilding, velvet and precious woods. The cabins of the second and third classes were furnished much more modestly, and the cost of tickets was approximately $ 600 and $ 200 (in terms of course), respectively.
Before launching in the press, the Titanic was called "unsinkable." Unfortunately, the media turned out to be wrong.
Single flight
On April 10, 1912, the Titanic left the port of Southampton to make a transatlantic voyage. Four days the ship was on the way. On the night of April 14-15, 1912, the ship collided with an iceberg. 2 hours 40 minutes after this, the Titanic sank. This tragedy claimed the lives of 1,495 people.
The catastrophe that occurred in 1912 with the Titanic can hardly be considered the worst in the history of mankind. For comparison: the German ship Goya sank in April 1945. It was torpedoed from a submarine belonging to the army of the Soviet Union. Then killed about seven thousand people. If we take into account only the catastrophes that occurred in peacetime, the death of the passenger ferry Dona Paz in 1987 can be considered the largest and most tragic. The ship collided with an oil tanker. The number of victims of this tragedy is 4375 people.
Exhibition "Titanic" in "Afimall"
The public’s interest in the history of this shipwreck was probably due to the James Cameron movie of the same name. Be that as it may, a large number of visitors were gathered by the Titanic exhibition held in Moscow. Afimall (photos of the entertainment complex at the time of the event are presented in our material) is well known to the metropolitan audience, and this event was another reason to visit it.
The event was organized by Russian organizers with the assistance of their American colleagues. The original exposition is exhibited at the Franklin Institute in the United States. The concept of the Moscow event was not particularly different from the original. So how was it?
Exhibition "Titanic" ("Afimall"): dates
Some readers still have to be upset: the event has already ended. It took place from February 14, 2014 to February 15 of the current year. In principle, probably, for this year the majority of those interested in the history of the Titanic still managed to inspect all the genuine artifacts and “visit” the ship. But the organizers of the event noted that when it became known that the Titanic exhibition (Afimall) would last until February 15, 2015 inclusive, many visitors decided not to miss their last chance. And the final day of this large-scale event was marked by a real full house.
Exhibition Concept
As mentioned above, every visitor to Afimoll had the opportunity to find himself on the legendary ship, walk along its decks, look into the cabins and survive the wreck without fear for his life. Yes, an iceberg was also present at this exhibition.
Interestingly, the exhibits were 342 items that previously really belonged to the passengers of the Titanic. One could touch history.
About roles and fates
At the entrance, each visitor to the exhibition received a ticket. But not a simple piece of paper with the name of the event indicated on it, time and cost of attending. On each ticket was the name of the passenger of the Titanic, and some of the events that happened to this person on the ship were described. In fact, every visitor to the event at Afimall could live the fate of another - the passenger of the legendary airliner who disappeared or, on the contrary, escaped a hundred years ago.
What did the person’s story look like on such a ticket? Firstly, the name, age and occupation were indicated. Secondly, his story related to the Titanic, printed in English and Russian. For example, a ticket addressed to Rosa Amelia Ikard contained the following information. “Age: 38 years. Occupation: maid. Amelia was the maid of Martha Stone, wife of the president of the Cincinnati Bell telephone company. It is known that during a trip to the Titanic, Amelia often complained about shortcomings in the service and behavior of the staff. ” By the way, such complaints and remarks from the lips of the maid become quite understandable, given that this woman traveled with her mistress and first-class companion.
After issuing a ticket, the exhibition guests went further and got acquainted with the exhibits and the reconstruction of the crash.
Exposition Description
Walking through the cabins, halls and decks, reconstructed for the exhibition, each visitor could get acquainted with the device and technical equipment of the ship, as well as find out how the life and pastime of passengers was organized. So, you could walk around the restaurant and see the exquisite table setting for first-class travelers. It was possible to climb the deck, which overlooks the ocean and the endless starry sky. Here, a soft breath of the night breeze was felt.
In addition, the guests of the exhibition had the opportunity to compare the arrangement of cabins of the first, second and third classes. The luxury of expensive apartments impressed with gilding, velvet and wealth everywhere. Passengers of the second class lived in cabins, vaguely reminiscent of the decoration of modern hotel rooms: nothing more, anonymized furniture and the same interior design. The third class was located in cabins located below the waterline. There were bunk beds, and the sound of water and the grinding of ice did not subside for a minute. At the same time, tickets equivalent to two average monthly salaries of an ordinary American worker were paid for tickets to cabins of the third class.
The next hall of the exhibition is the reconstruction of the wreck. The tragedy is painted every minute, so each visitor had the opportunity to put himself in the place of a person traveling on a ship, to survive his fate.
The exhibition was completed by a hall with an “underwater” exposition representing the sunken ship in all its grandeur, and a small room dedicated to the James Cameron film.
An interesting feature of the exhibition was to find out about the fate of the passenger whose name was indicated on the ticket, in the last hall. There were stands with lists of survivors and perished people. Without a doubt, to many viewers this seemed very interesting. Now, let's move on to reviews of the event.
Exhibition "Titanic" ("Afimall"): reviews
How did Muscovites and guests of the capital rate this event?
Most of the reviews were positive. This is not surprising, because the reconstruction of the appearance, interiors of the ship and its wreck was very convincing. At the same time, one cannot but pay attention to the fact that so many exhibits were genuine, and this only fueled public interest in the event.
In addition, many visitors noted the positive moment of the exhibition and the ticket business, experiencing the fate of the real passenger of the Titanic. To search for your hero in the lists of those who survived or died, according to the guests of Afimoll, was also very exciting.
But there were also some negative points that visitors remembered about the Titanic exhibition. So, the main staircase of the ship, so vividly and beautifully shown in the film of the same name, turned out to be very small, and it was not possible to climb it. Some visitors also noted that the atmosphere of adventure ended immediately after the tickets were issued, and then the viewer did not feel as a participant in the events, but only as an outside observer.
Be that as it may, the event ended, and, according to the organizers and most of the guests, it was a success. Many will remember for a long time what this event was like - the exhibition “Titanic” (“Afimall”). Photos from the exhibition will for a long time remind guests of past experiences and impressions.