EXHIBIT FOCUSES ON MARITIME TRAGEDY

The Titanic exhibition isn't about fine art. It's about history, a monumental maritime tragedy and the pieces of people's lives, says Jon Thompson.

Thompson directs the City of Memphis' cultural series and helped put together the Titanic exhibition.

The exhibition opens today at the Pyramid in Memphis. It includes more than 300 objects recovered from the North Atlantic wreck site and more than 75 objects from one of the largest private Titanic collections in the world.

The exhibition is displayed in 50,000 square feet of gallery space constructed to transport visitors back to the Edwardian era of 1912.

Visitors can listen to audio tapes as guides during their tour of the exhibition.

Thompson said the Edwardian era was an age of arrogance. When the Titanic sank, it jerked people back to reality, he said.

The tour will tell the story of the Titanic -- her passengers, the tragedy, the discovery of the wreckage and recovery of artifacts.

Included in the exhibit are a bronze cherub, portions of a stained glass window, silver dinnerware, fine china, jewelry, stock certificates and letters, communications and navigational gear, and pieces of the ship's massive engines.

The various objects are displayed in themed galleries dealing with the ill-fated ship from its construction to its sinking and the recovery of artifacts.

It begins in an upper level lobby where visitors look down on a 40-foot-long model of the bow section of the wrecked Titanic as it appears today two and a half miles below the ocean's surface.

Along the way, visitors enter a detailed reconstruction of the Veranda Cafe, one of the restaurants aboard the Titanic.

The exhibition includes the ship's bollard, a thick post used to secure ropes. The bollard weighs over 800 pounds and is the largest object that has been recovered from the sunken ship.

The tour ends with a memorial to the 1,523 people who died. It includes charcoal rubbings of eight memorials to victims of the tragedy, including one to the ship's captain. This is the first public display of the memorial rubbings.

"We want people to walk away with this strong empathy to the people who were there," Thompson said.

There is an admission charge. Season passes are available. To order by phone, call (901) 576-1290 or call toll-free 1-800-263-6744.

The exhibition runs through Sept. 30.