ArtsScience Museum: Titanic Artifacts Exhibit on its 100th Anniversary

“In the absolute stillness of the depths of the ocean, where there is perpetual night, the Titanic must remain…” a Singapore newspaper in reaction to Titanic sinking in 1912.

Titanic "boarding pass"

In 1912, nobody believed that Titanic could be discovered, having sunk to the lowest and darkest depth of the ocean a century ago. But 75 years after its sinking, a group of explorers were able to locate Titanic again. Indeed, at this depth, it was perpetual night, without any light streaming through - based on the film clips taken by a robot camera. And the force from water pressure was such that anything was expected to crush into pieces. Then, it was impossible to believe that man could rediscover and retrieve some of the remains of Titanic. But a testament to man’s greatness is the fact that some of these remains were even brought back from the depth of the ocean to right above it - and now on display thousands of miles away at Singapore's ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay. A few things even remained intact like the au gratin dishes which were found neatly arranged as they probably were in 1912, protected by a wooden chest.

While the discovery of Titanic is testament to humankind’s greatness, its sinking in the first place is also a testament to man's hubris.

“I could not conceive of any vital disaster happening in this vessel…modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”  - Captain Edward J. Smith.

But Titanic was too big it couldn’t move fast enough to avoid hitting the iceberg that eventually slashed its hull. The  creators of Titanic were lost in its bigness that they forgot to respect the force of nature near Newfoundland. In the end, one of the biggest ships in the world, the mightiest of them all, crumbled in the face of the crushing waves, and along with it hundreds of unfortunate passengers dying of hypothermia.  Even sadder was the fact that the number of victims was inversely proportional to their tier level. In proportion, more third class passengers lost their lives compared to their first class/top-tier counterparts. 

This kind of tragedy due to hubris remains all too common these days though. While nature’s fury is always blamed as the main cause of many calamities, that man intervenes and disrupts the balance of nature equally contributes: the floods, the landslides – these are all in part because of man’s disregard or lack of respect of nature. It's sad of course that the less fortunate always bear the brunt of these calamities, much like the third class passengers of the ship.

The Art Science Museum at Marina Bay where Titanic Artifacts were on exhibit