This 3-D model of the Titanic lights up and plays a tune

Memorabilia from the ill-fated Titanic has continued to fascinate collectors around the world, even though it is not always in the best taste.

Belfast City Council is looking for people who might have something suitable for a forthcoming Easter exhibition at the city hall, Titanic - An Image.

The whole story surrounding the ship has been a marketing phenomenon since the 1997 release of the Hollywood film, and Una Reilly of the Belfast Titanic Society said they wanted to take a look at changing attitudes.

"We are going to reflect on how Titanic is portrayed in modern society, and how (that depiction) has changed since the disaster," she said.

The organisers hope to showcase not just heartfelt commemorations but also the numerous tawdry cash-ins that have appeared down the years.

Anyone with a spare �50 might be able to buy something like a piece of Titanic coal brought up from the seabed, gold-encased and transformed into a necklace.

This Titanic coal necklace is worth between �40 and �50

Or what about a beer called Sink the Titanic - with an iceberg on the bottle.

"This is an example of Titanic tat, but it's part of the social history of the whole thing," she said.

"This exhibition is to look at how it has changed, because after all, this was a disaster."

Alongside the exhibition which runs between 15 and 22 April, there will also be daily speakers, schools displays and tours around Titanic sights in Belfast by bus, boat and on foot.

The Titanic was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, and the city has been capitalising on its links to the ship.

Work on the first phase of the Titanic Quarter, the biggest property development scheme ever undertaken in Northern Ireland, has begun in the city.

An ambitious �100m heritage project at the site where the Titanic was built is planned.

It will include a full-scale model of the liner, exhibition galleries and a hotel and conference centre.

It is hoped the attraction will be open by 2012, the 100th anniversary of the ship's launch.

The Titanic Signature Project envisages a centrepiece building, three times the size of Belfast City Hall, based on the slipway where Titanic and her sister ships were built.