BODIES... The Exhibition

"BODIES...The Exhibition" is a controversial exhibition showcasing preserved human bodies dissected to display bodily systems. It opened in Tampa, Florida on August 20, 2005. It is similar to, though not affiliated with, the exhibition Body Worlds (which opened in 1995). BODIES... is currently showing in Buenos Aires, Cincinnati, Branson, Columbus, Prague, Lisbon, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, and Washington D.C.

The museum is set up so that one starts at the skeletal system, and more layers (muscular, nervous, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, urinary, and reproductive systems; as well as fetal development and the treated body) are added in successive rooms. Containing about twenty bodies in total, each exhibition uses real human bodies that have been preserved permanently by a process called "polymer preservation" so that they will not decay. This exhibition is organized by the publicly traded corporation, Premier Exhibitions Incorporated, which also staged Bodies Revealed in Seoul, South Korea. The cadavers were donated for research by the Chinese government, because all the bodies at the time of death allegedly had no close next of kin or immediate families to claim the bodies. (see Criticism) All of the dissections took place at the Dalian University in Liaoning, China and the resulting specimens were leased to Premier Exhibitions for the five-year duration of the show.

Some of the specimens are arranged so that they are performing activities such as playing basketball or conducting an orchestra. Along the way are other displays showing a human intestine stretched out, the polluted lung of a smoker, and all of the arteries and veins without the body itself. One section includes several fetuses in various stages of development. All of the fetuses died due to miscarriages, and the disorders which caused each are highlighted.

Criticism
The question of the origins of the bodies continue to dog these exhibits. Reporting from Dalian, China for the NYTimes, David Barboza described "a ghastly new underground mini-industry" with "little government oversight, an abundance of cheap medical school labor and easy access to cadavers and organs." Due to the fact that the cadavers featured in the exhibition are Chinese in origin, critics suspect that some or all of the bodies may be those of Chinese political prisoners or Falun Gong practitioners, who may have been subject to arrest and execution without due process, in order to be sold as cadavers. These critics cite previous accounts of Organ harvesting in China and the questionable state of Human Rights in the People's Republic of China.

Dr. Roy Glover, chief medical director for the exhibit insists that all the people died from natural causes (including disease.) He also said Premier has spent "considerable time" investigating the University. Zaller also said Premier has contracts with the University certifying that the bodies are not those of former prisoners or people from mental institutions.

There have also been legal process problems with these displays. State Anatomical boards normally oversee the handling of bodies for medical purposes and have objected to the lack of oversight for bodies for public display. Dr. Todd Olson, director of the Anatomical Committee of the New York Associated Medical Schools (NYAMS), suggests that without state or federal laws “you have no documentation of who this is”. In addition, there are claims that the exhibit of bodies for commercial profit has reduced the donations of bodies for medical learning. The Director of North Carolina State Board of Funeral Services, Paul Harris, stated "Somebody at some level of government ought to be able to look at a death certificate, a statement from an embalmer, donation documents," Harris said. "That's a reasonable standard to apply." 

The Florida Anatomical board fought the Tampa exhibit on the grounds that the Anatomical board should have approval. Dr. Lynn Romrell, Executive Director of the Florida Anatomical board says the exhibit should be shut down. Because the purpose of the exhibits are educational, the then-Florida Attorney General, Charlie Crist decided that the State Anatomical board’s approval would be required. Premier productions opened their exhibit at the Tampa Museum of Science and Industry two days early. This revealed to the anatomical board that in order to enforce their rulings with those who did not accept their authority, they would be put in the position of bringing forth a legal suit. 

International Trade experts object to the way bodies-for-commercial-display are imported because the way their categorization codes, as "art collections" don't require CDC stamps and death certificates that are required for medical cadavers. 

In San Francisco Health Inspectors became alarmed when plastinated bodies began leaking. San Francisco Chinese American groups protested exhibiting of corpses there, striking parallels to Nazi Germany. Then San Francisco Supervisor Fiona Ma, stated that "Chinese culture is very religious and superstitious regarding death and the display of dead bodies." Reacting to these complaints "and to promote California as a place that preserves the rights of individuals to dignity and decency when they have passed away", Ms. Ma, introduced a San Francisco ordinance on corpse exhibits.

After protests in Seattle, Washington State is considering a bill to ban exhibits of bodies without clear documentation of consent. 

In Portland, Rabbi Daniel Isaak argues the educational value of cadaver exhibits.

Protestors in Durham, North Carolina, pointed out that the company touring the corpses cannot provide any indication that any of the people used for the exhibit gave their consent for their remains to be used in this way.

In Pittsburgh, Elaine Catz quit her job of 11 years as science education coordinator for the Carnegie Museum of Science after her superiors chose to ignore her report, based on two years of professional scientific research, which led her to believe it very 'possible' the Bodies exhibition has fueled black market organ trafficking and that bodies and organs on display 'absolutely' could have belonged to prisoners, possibly executed. 

Others have had ethical problems with these exhibits, including professional ethicists and prominent Chinese Human Rights activists. "Given the (Chinese) government's track record on the treatment of prisoners, I find this exhibit deeply problematic," said Sharon Hom, the executive director of the advocacy group Human Rights in China. 

Harry Wu, long time human rights activist who spent 19 years in prison for his role in Tiannamen Square, and now Director of the Laogai Research Foundation in Washington, terms the practice of obtaining exhibit specimens from China “immoral”. Mr. Wu suggests that the label of 'unclaimed' on the bodies may imply that families were not notified of the death, especially in the case of executions. 

In an ethical analysis, Thomas Hibbs, Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Culture at Baylor University, compares cadaver displays to pornography in that they reduce the subject to “the manipulation of body parts stripped of any larger human significance.”

There have also been concerns regarding the educational aspect of these exhibits, especially regarding the inclusion of these displays for school field trips. In North Carolina the Superintendent of Public Instruction stated that she 'would not recommend this material for school field trips. St. Louis Diocese Archbishop Raymond Burke strongly suggests that Catholic Schools avoid scheduling field trips, as cadaver exhibits raise serious questions for Catholics. Concerned with how 'some kids process' these 'graphic' images, Des McKay, School Superintendent in Abbotsford British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver, barred field trips to exhibits of plasticized human beings. In an editorial to the Abbotsford News, Rev. Christoph Reiners questions what affect the exhibits will have on the values of children attending for school field trips. Similarly, Elaine Catz, who helped coordinate field trips for the Carnegie Science Center in the job she quit over the bodies exhibits, has problems with what she sees the exhibits teach. She maintains "it teaches that, once he is deceased, there is nothing wrong with taking a person's body without his consent"; "It teaches that there is nothing wrong with exploiting the dead in order to make a profit, as long as it is in the name of science or education or art" and "It teaches that it is incredibly easy to dehumanize others"

Many claim that the exhibits are more about money than about education. "It's all about education? No. It's not all about that," said Dr. Howard Markel, director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan. "It's about the money. This is an extraordinarily successful entertainment show."

Thefts
A kidney was stolen from an exhibit while in Seattle, Washington, on December 30, 2006. It was later found in the possession of a Tacoma man on February 23, 2007.