Tom Zaller recounts his up close and personal moment with the Titanic wreckage
TOM ZALLER recounts the moment he came face-to-face with the Titanic's wreckage and how it changed his life forever.
TZ: As the Museum Director of the ArtScience Museum, I have the world's museum collections at my disposal to create and develop entertaining and educational content to deliver world-class museum experiences. I also have the challenge of showing Singaporeans museums are fun and can be a great individual or family experience. We are continually reinventing ourselves with new exhibitions, programmes, educational activities and entertaining events.
TF: Tell us about Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.
TZ: It narrates the incredible human stories from the legendary RMS Titanic's maiden voyage. The use of authentic artifacts and extensive room recreations combined with the compelling stories of the passengers and crew have made this one of the most successful exhibitions in the world.
Items from the ship's construction, vials of perfume from a maker who was travelling to New York to sell his samples, china etched with the logo of the elite White Star Line, postage stamps, music sheets, coins, jewellery, personal items and other authentic objects offer historical insights into the life and times of travellers of that era and the wide socio-economic disparity between rich and poor. Everyone knows the story and the exhibition actually takes you there. 2012 marks the Titanic's 100th year anniversary and I strongly believe even after all this time, visitors will still be moved by the stories that made it memorable.
TF: You witnessed Titanic's wreckage first-hand. What was it like?
TZ: It's an experience I'll never forget. After several years of working on the Titanic, seeing pictures and researching the story, there's nothing like being one metre away from her. She stands proud, upright and majestic as the day she sailed. The journey to the site is 400 miles from land and the journey to the bottom of the ocean is a two-and-a-half-hour trip in almost complete darkness in a submarine two metres wide. I could feel the anticipation as I was finally reaching her. Simply amazing!
TF: How has the experience benefitted your current role?
TZ: It made me realise how important a role the exhibition plays in allowing others to experience what life must have been like on such a legendary ship. Shipwrecks are snapshots in time - when you see the wreck you literally go back to a particular moment. 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. More than 1,500 passengers and crew were on board, each with a story to tell. The wreck is powerful that way - once you've seen it, you want to keep telling its stories.
TF: Any amusing Singaporean experiences?
TZ: When we were building the Museum, I'd take a taxi there every day and would ask the drivers their thoughts on the structure. Often they would say it was a lotus sculpture, a gift to Lee Kuan Yew or an amphitheatre. But one driver said, "I think it's a giant exhaust fan for the Casino." Hilarious!
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition tells the incredible human stories from the legendary RMS Titanic's maiden voyage. Witness the use of authentic artefacts and extensive room recreations, combined with the compelling stories of the passengers and crew. Runs until April 2012. www.marinabaysands.com/ArtScienceMuseum
Posted Jan 2012
