Review: The Legend of the Titanic - The Immersive Exhibition

This immersive exhibition depicting the sinking of the Titanic docks in Canada Water for a 14-week run.

Photo: Madrid Artes Digitales

On 10th April 1912, the RMS Titanic set off on its maiden voyage to New York from Southampton’s White Star Dock. At the time, it was the largest passenger ship ever built, holding over 2,200 people. Four days into its journey, it struck an iceberg some 400 miles off the coast of Canada and sank just three hours later, killing over 1,500 of those on board. The disaster would prompt a wave of new maritime safety laws to come into effect, including a mandate that every ship have enough lifeboats to accommodate all passengers and crew, and later inspire James Cameron’s Oscar-winning 1997 film, which remains one of the highest-grossing films of all time.

Now, 113 years on from the disaster, Madrid Artes Digitales, who recently presented their immersive Tutankhamun exhibition at Immerse LDN, return to London with The Legend of the Titanic: The Immersive Exhibition at the appropriately named Dock X in Canada Water. While previously staged in Madrid, the London version, which runs until 2nd November 2025, has been expanded and enhanced with additional spaces, exhibits and enhanced VR sections.

A mix of 360-degree immersive projections, virtual reality, and phone-based AR, alongside traditional displays of artefacts and movie props, The Legend of the Titanic: The Immersive Exhibition promises to ‘bring the ship’s story to life like never before’ and provides a respectful and poignant, yet engaging, way to learn more about the iconic ship and its passengers.

Photo: Madrid Artes Digitales

The opening rooms of The Legend of the Titanic operate like a traditional museum exhibit, with large wall-mounted panels providing context and historical information on the ship and its construction. Glass cabinets house numerous objects, including dining sets from the Titanic’s sister ship, the RMS Olympic, and handwritten letters. A handful of items from the 1997 film are also on display, including a screen-used life jacket signed by Bernard Hill, who played Captain Edward John Smith. Most of the items on display in this portion of the experience come from the personal collection of Juan Cruz Ercoreca, who has spent the last 15 years collecting Titanic-related artefacts and serves as curator for the London edition of The Legend of the Titanic.

Later in the experience comes the first of two VR sections - a 7-minute-long orchestral tribute to the musicians who played aboard the Titanic and famously went down with the ship, entitled ‘Until the Orchestra Fell Silent’. Wearing VR headsets, seated guests see each band member play against various digitally rendered backdrops, including the Grand Staircase and the exterior of the ship. With music composed by René Merkelbach, it’s a moving celebration of their selflessness, but it provides little information or insight about them or their decision to keep playing until the bitter end.

Photo: Madrid Artes Digitales

The exhibition's main space, which offers 360-degree projections, contains a 30-minute-long looping film. It begins with a CGI timelapse of the Titanic being built in Belfast, before shifting to focus on two fictional passengers, Arthur and Elizabeth Callahan. We see the pair boarding the ship in Southampton, their exploration of its numerous interiors after a restless Elizabeth sneaks out of their cabin, and, of course, their escape during the eventual sinking of the ship. The most visually disorienting moments of the film see the interior of the ship begin to tilt as water rapidly fills the bow, and a poignant conclusion shows a shellshocked Elizabeth and Arthur onboard one of the lifeboats as the Titanic disappears into the sea on the horizon.

In large part due to the height limitations of the venue, this portion of the experience isn't as visually impressive as the 360-degree projection room Madrid Artes Digitales presented in their recent Tutankhamun exhibition, which filled your entire field of vision, but the addition of a narrative certainly makes it easier for guests to follow along, and it remains an engaging experience all the same.

Photo: Madrid Artes Digitales

Far and away, the strongest part of The Legend of the Titanic is the VR ‘Metaverse’ experience, in which guests wear a wireless VR headset and walk through a virtual recreation of the ship. Beginning in the present day aboard a glass-lined submarine descending to the wreck, a portal to the past soon opens up and transports guests to the past. There, you can explore the cabins, staircases, engine room, and decks of the Titanic at your own pace. Conversations between passengers and crew members play out, and the detailed environments invite deeper solo exploration. It's a marked step up from the previous Metaverse offering from MAD and is a much grander affair. A scene inside the ship's engine room, in which visitors move along elevated platforms, has the potential to inspire vertigo for those looking over the edge, and there are some awe-inspiring moments, including a recreation of the ship's Grand Staircase and a walk along the deck that showcases the ship's scale.

Alongside these moments, there's a photo opportunity that lets people re-enact one of the best-known scenes from Titanic, with Jack and Rose at the bow of the ship, and several interactive displays designed for kids, including a tabletop touchscreen with Titanic-themed games and a drawing station that can digitise drawings and project them onto a digital display of Southampton dock.

Photo: Madrid Artes Digitales

London's immersive landscape has been populated with numerous projection-led experiences for some time now. Long before Lightroom and Frameless existed, the likes of Shoreditch's Immersive Van Gogh showed that there was a notable appetite for these kinds of experiences. Showing no sign of dwindling interest, recently there's been a shift towards creating experiences with a more educational focus, with the likes of The Moonwalkers with Tom Hanks and last year's BBC Earth Experience leading the way. While there's constant debate around just how 'immersive' these kinds of experiences really are, they undoubtedly offer a modern way to learn about the world around us that's not always possible within a traditional museum setting.

While The Legend of the Titanic doesn't stray far from the format established by Madrid Artes Digitales with Tutankhamun: The Immersive Exhibition, it shows that they're adept at creating educational yet engaging experiences. It's a poignant and respectful exploration of the Titanic that focuses just as much on the people who lost their lives as it does on the spectacle of the sinking itself, and is a strong addition to the city's growing catalogue of immersive exhibitions.

★★★½

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The Legend of the Titanic: The Immersive Exhibition runs at Dock X in Canada Water until 2nd November 2025. Tickets are priced from £27.00 and can be booked via feverup.com

For more reviews of immersive exhibitions and experiences like The Legend of the Titanic, check out our recent Reviews