Hit, but not sunk: An exhibition in Barcelona showcases original Titanic artifacts.

The viewer is not in 1912, nor in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on the way to New York. Titanic: The Official Exhibition, on display at Espai Inmersa in Poblenou until September 28, pays tribute to the sinking of the ocean liner through an immersive exhibition where the journey consists of diving through the objects recovered from the ship.

Traveling first class wasn't the same as traveling second or third class. A ticket could determine whether you survived a shipwreck. "The Titanic is a global phenomenon that affected people of all nationalities and social levels," says Tomasina Ray, president of RMS Titanic, who is in charge of selecting the objects now on display in Barcelona.

A selection of the most luxurious banknotes, which could cost up to $4,500, marks the beginning of the tour, which includes around 200 objects.

For the first time, a fragment of the helmet found on an expedition in 1998 can be touched.

From hair curlers to candlesticks still green from the algae that covered them when they fell to a depth of 3,200 meters, to a deck of poker. One of the signs explains that there were even scammers in the onboard gaming room.

The owner of most of the objects is unknown. A third-class dinner service is preserved because it sank with a cupboard; a gold ring because it was hidden in a jewelry box.

The objects on display not only refer to an owner who traveled on the ocean liner; there are also items from the ship itself. A mercury thermometer—which still works—and a telegraph, which was used to signal the direction to the engine room, are displayed in the glass cabinets.

There are also binoculars that were missing. They belong to Frederick Fleet, a lookout on the Titanic. With them, he could have spotted the iceberg earlier and perhaps avoided the collision. One of the signs explains how Fleet spotted the iceberg with the naked eye, even when it was too late.

It's not every day that you get the chance to touch the Titanic. Without the need for diving equipment or a ticket, visitors have the right to touch the exposed piece of the ship's hull, which was found during an expedition in 1998.

The ocean liner and its artifacts aren't the only protagonists of the exhibition. Like a who's who, throughout the exhibition, the stories and images of the ship's passengers accompany the artifacts. Mining magnate Benjamin Guggenheim was one of those who died on the voyage.

Black and white faces complement a wall where you can sit on a bench while gazing at the names of those who traveled on the ship. From those who survived to the 1,495 lives lost in the tragedy.

Before sinking, the ship was a place of celebration, ostentation, and wealth. If the Titanic 's luxury is felt in the fur carpets and warm lighting, it is also felt in the classical music of the era that fills the recreation of the central hall of the Poblenou exhibition: "It was the place where those in first class liked to be seen," explains the president of RMS Titanic. A space marked by the hour, 2:20, at which the ship sank, as recorded in the wooden and gilded room where the clock once stood and which was flooded.

From luxury and glamour to the red of boilers and the icy blue of an iceberg. A block of ice is on display as a testament to the temperatures experienced by the passengers who ended up in the water. The iceberg on display is freshwater, cooler than the one in the Atlantic Ocean, which was -2 degrees Celsius. It can be touched.

When a ship sinks, there is an interlude of chaos, tension, and rescue. The Titanic 's descent was tedious: two hours and forty minutes, during which there was no shortage of distress calls. One room displays the reconstruction of the telegrams with which the ocean liner requested help, in a recreation where the words overlap, the signal weakens, and the sinking is inevitable.

"My Heart Will Go On" isn't playing, nor are Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet on the bow of the boat. A mess of things unravels in a tumbling chaos. "It's probably going to make you a little seasick," notes one of the organizers.

“Hopefully, in a couple of years we'll be back and able to recover more artifacts and add them to the exhibit.” Tomasina Ray, President of RMS Titanic

The exhibition features a virtual reality experience that, in a metaverse format, navigates through the submerged remains of the vessel, giving the impression of being at a depth of 3.2 km. A journey that reveals the magnitude of the boilers, passes through the central hall, and ends in the water. Surviving, of course.

Unearthing the Titanic 's past is a work in progress: "Hopefully, in a couple of years we'll return and be able to recover more artifacts and add them to the exhibition," Ray predicts. A tour of a ship that sank, but whose history of objects and passengers keeps it in the collective memory, leaving it damaged, but not sunk.