The Prague Post Online: Tempo: Body snatchers

May 17th, 2008

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Body snatchers

A controversial exhibit peels away the skin

By Kathleen Kralowec
For The Prague Post
May 16th, 2007 issue

Bodies: The Exhibition

When: Through July 31
Where: Lucerna Velký sál
Tickets: 225349 Kč, available through Ticketpro
For more information, check www.bodiestheexhibition.com or www.bodiesprague.cz (Czech only)

COURTESY PHOTO

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Opening up corpses for public viewing is nothing new to science. During the 17th century, “anatomical theaters” allowed medical students a grandstand view into the secrets of the human body.

But putting cadavers on display for the general public is a 21st-century development that has quickly become a growth industry. “Bodies: The Exhibition,” currently on display at Lucerna Velký sál, is one of multiple traveling exhibits displaying authentic preserved human bodies set in a variety of poses that mimic daily life. (Other versions of the Prague exhibit are currently showing in Portugal, Spain and the U.S. cities of San Diego and Durham.)

Along with muscular and skeletal systems, the exhibits highlight respiratory and circulatory systems, with special sections showing the difference between healthy and diseased kidneys and lungs. In Prague, more than 20 full bodies and parts of many others are on display. They’ve all been preserved through a process called Plastination, in which the body’s fluids are removed and replaced by liquid silicone. After it dries, the specimens are flexible, odorless and permanent.

The exhibition was mounted by Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions, Inc., which reportedly paid $25 million to buy the bodies from Dalian Medical University Plastination Laboratories in China. According to Dr. Ray Glover, Premier’s chief medical director, the bodies were all donated or unclaimed, and died due to natural causes. But, given China’s poor record in human rights, and predilection for imprisoning and executing dissidents, controversy has followed the exhibits, with critics questioning the bodies’ origins.

Controversy also arose quickly in Prague, though more as a matter of taste. Protests have been lodged by the Catholic Church, the Czech Anatomical Society, Charles University professors and a Parliament official, all of whom find the exhibit degrading and immoral.

“We should realize that these bodies, which are anonymous for us, belonged in reality to concrete living persons,” Deputy Boris Šťastný says. “In addition, some international organizations expressed suspicion that they might have been political prisoners.”

But Prague Police have already determined that the exhibit violates no laws, and the organizers say they intend to stay for the full run, through July 31.

A hand on the table

“Bodies: The Exhibition” is neither the first of its kind nor original in its display of Plastinized bodies. The exhibit “Body Worlds,” first put on display in Tokyo in 1995, was organized by German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who invented Plastination in 1975. The show appeared in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale.

The exhibition is in the ornate Lucerna Velký sál, or Big Hall, where the rococo ceilings and walls contrast with the modern design of the show. Warm lighting effects give the specimens a sense of serenity and solemnity. Neither macabre and morose, nor lab-white and sterile, the exhibit has a lively contemporary feel.

The posed figures are accompanied by plentiful and detailed descriptions written in clear and easy-to-understand terms that give the impression no cut or dissection was made without a specific purpose. During a recent visit, children seemed particularly fascinated by the exhibit, staring in awe and excitement at the revealed architecture of the body. (A kid-friendly audio guide is available to tell youngsters about each body part they’re looking at.)

Part of the attraction, as many visitors find, is that it’s really not that horrible to see a hand on the table. Under the right circumstances, the hand is revealed as one of nature’s most interesting creations. Far from gory and frightening, the hand rests cleanly, separated from the body in such a way that you can see how it’s operated. A placard explains that many of the muscles that operate the hand are actually located in the arm, because it would be too heavy for delicate motions if all the controlling muscles were located inside the hand. Meanwhile, the visual presentation shows the nerves and tendons shimmering and smooth, almost opalescent in the light.

Despite the objections from segments of the local medical education community, the exhibit would seem to have a lot to offer medical students and practitioners in related fields. Indeed, the exhibit’s guest book is full of excited entries from medical students and teachers who say they found it a refreshing alternative from text-book diagrams and wax models. For anyone interested in the science of anatomy, the show will offer a wonderland of real-life examples.

Of course, reactions will vary. Most of us have never seen the circulatory system of a human limb separated and suspended in fluid, nor a human cranium half-exposed to reveal the brain inside. Some people may find the fetus exhibits difficult to deal with as well. And the reactions to the sexual-organ exhibit range from humor to disgust.

At the end of the show, you might be asked by a friendly host how you liked it, and what you thought. “Interesting” is the response he gets most often, he says. He’ll be sympathetic if you tell him you felt queasy from time to time, with assurances that he just hopes you liked it.

It’s a soothing conclusion to what can be an unsettling experience. If the exhibit repulses as much as attracts, it’s worth remembering that what’s on the outside at Lucerna is what you carry inside you all the time, and the truth of the human mechanism on display.

Kathleen Kralowec can be reached at tempo@praguepost.com

Reader's comments:

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[13:40 17/05/2007] : Even if the exhibit is fascinating, that does not make it right. According to the exhibitor the unclaimed bodies were supplied by the Chinese police. The good news is that they are not the bodies of executed prisoners! They still may be the bodies of prisoners, and are certainly the bodies of the poor and the disenfranchised. Actually, it is difficult to rely on claims from China.

Even if we could be certain of the origin of the bodies, and that the deceased gave permission, the exhibit is still wrong. We can learn about our bodies just as well without the use of "real" bodies that are 70 percent plastic already. Why not use totally plastic? Real bodies help sell tickets, and that is why they are being used. We should show more respect to the deceased than this out of respect for the living. These exhibits cheapen the value of life to the point where we are mere commodities. As commodities, our fate does not seem to matter. Visit dignityinboston.googlepages.com/prague for more information. Ban these exhibits.

Aaron Ginsburg
Sharon, Masacusetts, USA

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