Controversial Bodies exhibition in Holland

Tuesday 14 November 2006

A controversial exhibition – which uses specially-preserved human bodies in realistic poses – will open its doors in the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam on November 25.

The exhibition, which has already been seen by over two million people in the US and UK, aims to give visitors a ‘greater understanding of their own physical make-up’.

But human rights groups say there are concerns about the origins of these particular human remains – which came from China. They’re anxious the bodies may be those of political prisoners or dissidents who had been executed.

The US firm behind the show, Premier Exhibitions, says the bodies came from the Dalian Medical University which, in turn, claims they came from a variety of sources and had been unclaimed by family members.

The bodies and 260 body parts – reportedly leased from the university for $12.5m – were preserved using a process known as ‘polymer preservation’ and then put in realistic poses in order to show how the body works. Human organs on display include the blackened lungs of a hardened smoker.

The show is one of several similar travelling exhibitions of body parts.

© DutchNews.nl

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