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Follow the clues
Exhibition curator Geoffrey Curley has created a mystery that guests must solve in the fashion of fictional super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes. But it won’t be easy, he promises. “People are appreciative that it’s not simple.”
Photo by Andrew Haworth
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Whodunit?
Interactive displays teach guests about the technology of Victorian times, such as telegraph communication, the cosmetics of the day, and ballistics before they are invited beyond the gates to solve a crime.
Photo by Andrew Haworth
The elevator doors open to reveal another time and place. Somber violin music drifts out into brick archways, the notes drowned out by a steam locomotive, the footfalls of passersby, horses clip-clopping on cobblestones, and a foghorn somewhere off in the distance.
It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust, but when they do, a skull grins ominously from a pedestal, and flickering lighting casts long shadows over a portrait of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the physician-turned-writer who gave us the world’s greatest fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes.
The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes opened at the S.C. State Museum on Jan. 18, and not only teaches guests about Doyle’s legendary character and the science of the era, but also places them in the role of a detective tasked with solving a murder amid immersive Victorian period set pieces and interactive displays.
One of the largest exhibits ever hosted at the museum, the all-ages attraction includes more than 100 objects and artifacts, including original manuscripts, images from the Museum of London Archives, and props and items from more recent Sherlock Holmes movies and television shows, such as the CBS show, Elementary.
Interactive stations allow guests to explore detection techniques such as footprint analysis, blood spatter, chemical analysis and more. A re-creation of Holmes’ Baker Street sitting room is accurate down to the smallest of details, from his smoking pipes, to his ubiquitous magnifying glass.
“People loved a good mystery during Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s times, and they still do,” says Jennifer Thrailkill, the museum’s director of marketing. “That interest hasn’t gone away.”
Walking through the exhibit is a dark, eerie experience. The dim, gaslight-style lighting, grimy brick archways, creaking gates and sounds of the bustling city complete the illusion of the seedier side of London. “Just the scale, the immersion of the exhibit, you really can’t even tell you’re in our blockbuster exhibit gallery,” Thrailkill says.
And that was always the intent, according to curator Geoffrey Curley, whose St. Paul, Minnesota-based firm developed the exhibition.
“It’s really fun to step into another time period, to go to England when you’re actually here in Columbia,” Curley says.
The first half of the exhibit focuses on Doyle, and how he created the character of Sherlock Holmes, one of the most beloved characters in pop fiction of the era, and one of the first “super heroes,” Curley says.
“His superpowers are tangible. He’s not from another planet; he didn’t get it from some myth,” Curley says. “They’re observation and the scientific method. And he was really, really good at it.”
Visitors to the exhibit are offered the chance to solve a murder mystery, almost in an escape room style. The mystery is based on a reference in a Holmes tale, and written by award-winning mystery author Daniel Stashower, who is sanctioned by the Doyle estate to write Holmes stories.
The mystery involves an American newspaperman in England, who is accused of murder. Police believe he was intoxicated by a fume or poison that made him go insane, and he disposed of evidence in the Thames River. Guests follow a trail of clues taking them from a crime scene, through a conservatory and eventually to the riverbank in an effort to learn the truth. Along the way they can examine blood patterns, gunshot marks, burns and other evidence based on forensic science.
“You take what you have learned and immediately apply it to solving a crime in a fun, creative way,” Thrailkill says.
Designers worked with a Minnesota state homicide investigative agency to ensure accuracy, and Curley warns cracking the case is anything but elementary.
“People are appreciative that it’s not simple,” he says.
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Get There
The South Carolina State Museum is located at 301 Gervais Street in Columbia.
HOURS: Monday, Wednesday–Friday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday: noon to 5 p.m. The exhibit is scheduled to run through April 19, 2020.
ADMISSION: Pricing for The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes includes museum general admission. Museum members may use their comp attraction tickets or purchase their discounted tickets online for blockbuster admission. General public: Adult: $17.95, senior (62+): $15.95, child (3–12): $13.95. Members: Adult: $7, senior: $6, child: $5. Group tickets (for 10 or more): Adult: $15.95, senior: $13.95, child: $11.95.
DETAILS: For more information, visit scmuseum.org or call (803) 898-4921.