Exhibiton of corpses opens in Halifax

An exhibition of plastinated human cadavers that has raised controversy elsewhere is being met with support, not protest, at its first stop east of Montreal, the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History says.

Jeff Gray, curator of visitor experiences and exhibits, said he expected some controversy over the Body Worlds RX exhibition, but has instead seen an overwhelming amount of support and interest.

“When these shows first launched in the late 90s, there was a lot of controversy and people’s comfort level was lower,” he said in an interview. “But a lot of that controversy has abated over the years.”

“The response has been overwhelmingly supportive. The interest in this exhibit is unprecedented,” Gray added. “We currently have more high school students booked to come visit the museum in this exhibit than we’ve had in the last 10 years.”

The Roman Catholic Church, which has raised moral questions about Body Worlds exhibitions elsewhere, has chosen to stay silent about the Halifax exhibition.

“At this point in time we have no specific thoughts or comments to share about the upcoming Body World RX exhibit,” Aurea Sadi, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of HalifaxYarmouth, said in an email last month.

The exhibition is dark and dramatic, with black walls, ceilings and floors. Behind glass displays are brightly lit plastinated corpses, a complex technique that removes fluids from bodies and replaces them with plastics that harden.

The modernday mummification takes thousands of hours to complete, beginning with a formaldehyde injection. Scientists at the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany, then start the timeconsuming anatomical dissection, unravelling a labyrinth of muscles, nerves and arteries that compose the human body.