An exhibition in Sydney’s entertainment quarter has become the subject of controversy recently, with people questioning the ethical sourcing of the exhibitions materials.
Real Bodies: The Exhibition has 20 real, perfectly preserved human bodies and 200 anatomical specimens on show. Through ten galleries, you can see the human body on full display in a preserved state.
The exhibition aims to educate people on human anatomy, as well as question what it means to be human.
Why are they trying to shut it down?
The controversial exhibition is receiving criticism for it’s use of the bodies. Mostly, questioning whether it is ethical to use them and where they came from. An open letter signed by 12 human rights experts has been sent to the Prime Minister and NSW Health Minister asking them to shut the exhibition down.
The letter alleges that “the exhibits are sourced from the unclaimed corpses of people who have died in hospital,”.
Tom Zaller – President/CEO of Imagine Exhibitions told Fairfax; “There’s absolutely no truth in what’s being said. The bottom line is all of the specimens used in our exhibition are legally sourced and they have all died from natural causes, which has been expressed since the beginning of these exhibitions touring.”
The bodies are preserved through the process of plastination which involves the use of polymer mixtures to replace the fluid in the human body. This process “must occur within 48 hours of death. Therefore, it is not possible to plastinate a corpse that is 30 days old.”
Where have the bodies come from?
All the bodies have been provided by exhibition partner Dr Hongjin Sui, Zaller confirmed. Sui has 25 years’ experience in plastination, and his company are considered “caretakers” of the bodies.
Zaller also told Time Out “nobody really owns them; when they’re done being used as teaching aids they will go back and be cremated.”
The letter alleges that these bodies have been illegally obtained and may even include victims of Falun Gong imprisonment and torture. Whilst the organisers of Real Bodies deny this and claim the bodies were legally donated, there is no proof.
Exhibitions around the world featuring preserved bodies have been shut down before. A 2008 exhibition was also forced to add a disclaimer to their site, stating they were unable to independently verify their exhibits were not the bodies of executed Chinese prisoners.
Whether the allegations are true or not, it is incredibly worrying. An exhibition that cannot verify the legal and ethical sourcing of their materials should be questioned. Should the bodies really be here? If not, how did they end up here?
