Exhibition is dead cert to create a stir Show reveals workings of real human bodies
IT’S an exhibition for those with a morbid curiosity... literally. Twenty dead people have gone on show in Birmingham – and what’s more they’ve been dissected.
To the unenlightened it sounds like a grisly spectacle to be avoided – but for others it is a stunning display of the intricate inner workings of the human body.
Real Bodies: The Exhibition invites people to “explore the entire human experience from the first breath to the last”.
The bodies and anatomical specimens have been dissected and preserved by the technique of plastination which replaces body fluids and fat with synthetic plastics.
Developed by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens in 1997, the process means specimens can be touched and do not decompose.
Organisers bill the show as “a powerful thought-provoking exhibition exploring life by displaying 20 real, perfectly and respectfully preserved human bodies and more than 200 anatomical specimens, inviting visitors of all ages to examine the human experience from the first breath to the last in dramatic and moving displays”.
It promises to “dig deeper into the beauty of the body, mind and soul than any other exhibition of its kind”.
The displays also show the importance of the human anatomy in world cultures in a blend of art and science, say organisers.
Real Bodies has already visited dozens of cities around the world after first launching in Florida in 2005.
But in April, when the event was in Sydney, concerns were raised by Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting that the bodies were not willingly donated but were suspected to be Chinese political prisoners who were tortured and murdered. The bodies used are provided by Dalian Medical University Biology Plantation in China.
Dalian Medical University’s Professor of Anatomy, Hong Jin Sui, said that the specimens were “originally received from the city morgue and then transferred to medical universities in China and ultimately were legally donated to the Dalian Hoffen Bio-technique Laboratory preservation, dissection and exhibition.
“Dalian Hoffen Bio-technique only accepts specimens that have been legally donated, are free of infectious disease and certified to have died of natural causes,” Mr Sui added.
Organisers advise: “This exhibition contains real human bodies and anatomical specimens which have been posthumously dissected and preserved using the process of plastination.
“As this exhibition features adult bodies and specimens in their entirety, including some with model eyeballs and full genitalia, parental guidance is suggested.”
Real Bodies: The Exhibition is at the NEC until August 19.