John Zaller has been involved with Titanic exhibitions twice before and the appeal remains unsinkable.
His company is now bringing “Titanic: An Immersive Voyage” to his two-year-old Exhibition Hub in Doraville starting Friday, July 26, where if will be available for several months. The experience will feature more than 300 artifacts from the Titanic and related ships connected to the Titanic story and tell the story from multiple angles.
Advance tickets starting at $30 are available at feverup.com. The experience should last 60 to 90 minutes.
“For me, it’s the personal stories of the people on board,” said Zaller, executive producer of the experience, at the Exhibition Hub earlier this month. “The thing that makes it super fascinating is it’s a modern day Greek tragedy, a mythological retelling of the human experience. It continues to teach us lessons and draws us in. We also want to capture the myth and lore surrounding the story.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Atlanta has hosted other Titanic exhibits in the past. Zaller helped write the one held at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center in 2006. He also helped produce the most recent one in 2012 at Atlantic Station featuring 200 artifacts.
“This exhibition takes those great elements of more traditional blockbuster experiences, the objects, the scenery, the setts and overlays them with our technological expertise with immersive experiences,” Zaller said.
This new one also widens the lens of the 1912 tragedy to include other players such as RMS Olympic, a sister ocean liner which was built in Ireland at the same time as Titanic and is identical in every way, but unlike Titanic, sailed the seas for 24 years.
There is information about Carpathia, the ship that rescued hundreds of Titanic survivors and the SS Californian, a British ship that did not help out despite being relatively close by. There is also a section about the journey of the iceberg that ultimately hit Titanic.
There will also be props from the 1997 movie “Titanic,” a James Cameron smash which introduced the story to a new generation. “It’s a great film, a great reference point,” Zaller said. “It continues to draw people in because it’s an evergreen subject. Every single part of humanity is represented on that ship. We all find something of ourselves in there.”
He believes attendees still want to see physical objects. “We place them in recreations of scenic elements from the ship, all to scale. We’ll put you on the bridge and the crow’s nest where you can try to spot the iceberg. We’ll put you in the lifeboat as you witness the Titanic going down.”
Zaller gave The Atlanta Journal-Constitution an exclusive preview of some of the artifacts earlier this month including:
Credit: RODNEY HO
Credit: RODNEY HO
― Tools used to build Titanic at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland (now Northern Ireland)
― A time chit from a shipbuilder employee to track his work hours
― Historic invites to the Titanic launch party on May 31, 1911
― A negative from a Vinolia soap ad that touts the use of the soap for Titanic’s first-class passengers.
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@aj
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@aj
― A letter from Titanic engineer Arthur Gee, who sent it out at a stop before the ship went down. Gee perished with the ship.
― Pieces of china from first, second and third class.
― A photograph of one of Titanic’s life boats being lifted into the Carpathia.
― One of eight deck chairs recovered from the Titanic wreckage that did not sink.
The items come from the collections of British-based White Star Memories, Spencer Knarr and Kevin Saucier, all serious collectors of Titanic-related memorabilia.
“We hope this will tour for a long time,” Zaller said, once it leaves Atlanta.
EXHIBIT PREVIEW
“Titanic: An Immersive Voyage”
Opening July 26. Open every day except Tuesday, hours varying depending on day. Tickets starting at $30. Exhibition Hub Atlanta Art Center, 5660 Buford Highway NE, Doraville. feverup.com
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