The dramatic sinking of the famous ocean liner in 1912 is not the main focus of the Titanic panorama. With his new panorama in Leipzig, Yadegar Asisi presents us with the sunken luxury liner on the ocean floor. Shown in this manner, the shipwreck functions as an example of mankind's faith in progress, but also as an example of what can happen when the human race wilfully ignores the forces of nature. With the panorama and the accompanying exhibition, Asisi aims to create a fascination with the grandiose feat of engineering which the luxury liner represents. At the same time, the exhibition seems to be his comment on the age-old question of whether humans will ever be able to have full control over their natural environment.
The sinking of the Titanic
During the night of its maiden voyage on April 14, 1912, the Titanic had a lateral collision with an iceberg off the southeast coast of Newfoundland and sank about two and a half hours later in the North Atlantic. Although more than two hours were available to evacuate the vessel, about 1,500 of the more than 2,200 passengers on board lost their lives. The insufficient number of lifeboats and the inexperienced crew are often listed as two of the main reasons behind the catastrophe.
Diving down to the wreck
The panorama takes visitors on a journey to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Today, the shipwreck of the Titanic lies broken in two parts on the ocean floor, 3,800 meters below sea level. The full extent of the disaster is shown on the giant circular canvas. A vast amount of furniture, room furnishings, technical equipment and luggage is visible all around the shipwreck. An artificial lighting scenario enhances the effect of the panorama.
Accompanying exhibition
With his depiction of the wreck in the depths of the Atlantic, Asisi has made a reference to the finite nature of human existence. Thousands of tons of steel lay there, corroding in front us, and the formerly magnificent room furnishings and high-tech equipment of the approximately 40,000-ton vessel are reduced to one large field of debris which is now gradually being reclaimed by nature. An accompanying exhibition provides an introduction to the subject. The industrial production and use of steel as a new building material for vehicles, buildings, bridges and other infrastructure in the heyday of industrialization around 1900 led to profound changes in a society which had been largely rural just a century before. Mass media throughout the world had been reporting on the "unsinkable" high-tech ship for some time, and when the Titanic sank amid the relatively festive mood of 1912, it caused considerable dismay.