GUNTHER VON HAGENS’ BODY WORLDS EXHIBITIONS MARK 25th MILLION VISITOR MILESTONE
Heidelberg,
Germany, April 28, 2008—Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS,
the traveling anatomical exhibitions of donor bodies welcomes its 25th
million visitor this week. Though it will not be known if the
distinction will go to a visitor entering the turnstile at BODY WORLDS in Los Angeles, or if the honor will go instead to a visitor at BODY WORLDS in Milwaukee, or Baltimore, or Manchester, England, the number is a stellar achievement in museum exhibition history. Since 1996, when anatomist, Gunther von Hagens presented the first BODY WORLDS
at the National Science Center in Tokyo, to commemorate the centennial
of the Japanese Anatomical Society, the exhibitions, now numbering
four, have struck a deep chord and resonated with people in 47 cities
around the world. In Los Angeles, more than 1 million people have seen
BODY WORLDS in its three editions; in Chicago—1,187,583;
Berlin—1,393,902; Seoul—2,039,136; London—840,611; Brussels—506,793;
Denver—687,022. The numbers are so staggering that Jeff Rudolph, President of the California Science Center, who presented the first BODY WORLDS
exhibition in North America, followed by the second and, now, third of
Dr. von Hagens’ exhibitions, coined a new term for the phenomena—The BODY WORLDS Effect. “BODY WORLDS
brought not just expanded audiences … but enhanced our brand as a
science learning institution,” wrote Rudolph, who is now also one of
8,458 registered donors in the Body Donation Program of the Institute
for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany, the primary source of bodies
in BODY WORLDS exhibitions. A seminal museum experience that inserted the post-mortal body into the cultural landscape and contemporary consciousness, BODY WORLDS
exhibitions have fulfilled their mission of public health and science
education, but also forever changed our notions about conception and
death by provoking philosophical and religious reflection in visitors. In
the October 2007 Journal of Medical Humanities, Dr. Charleen Moore of
University of Texas and Dr. C. McKenzie Brown of Trinity University,
who examined more than 70,000 visitor comments about BODY WORLDS
wrote: “For many visitors, both laypersons and the medically trained,
it is very much a kind of meditation hall where they are compelled to
ponder deep assumptions about their own personal and social identity,
their relationship to the universe and/or to God, and to the meaning
and purpose of life.” The comment books, wrote Moore and Brown,
frequently mirror the social, political and ideological issues in
contemporary society and what amounts to running debates on especially
controversial issues, serving as a microcosm of the culture wars
currently fought in society at large. The success of the
exhibitions created by Dr. von Hagens—who invented the science of
Plastination, the anatomical specimen preservation method that makes it
possible to present the aesthetic, didactic anatomy evident in BODY WORLDS—has
spawned a number of copycat displays by commercial interests also
claiming the mission of public health, but none claiming the legal
consent of those on display. For Gunther von Hagens, the inventor of Plastination and the mind behind BODY WORLDS—once
described as, “an envelope pusher and intellectual adventurer of the
type humankind occasionally needs,” and honored last year as a Modern
Day Leonardo Da Vinci—the exhibitions are not an elegy but a
celebration of human potential. “We humans are the only self regarding
beings on the planet, and the exhibitions are a forum for
introspection, to contemplate life in the absence of the animating
spirit and soul. Twenty-five million visitors may amount to a mass
introspection on our humanity, but I am delighted even more that the
experience for each person is singular and emotional.” Gunther
von Hagens is currently working on the third chapter of his anatomical
opus, The Human Saga, a special feature on Aging that followsThe Three
Pound Gem, which focuses on the brain, now showing in Baltimore, and
The Story of the Heart, which considers cardiology and heart health,
now in Los Angeles. For more information please contact:
Gail Vida Hamburg
g.hamburg(at)plastination.com or 312-602-5369
or
Georgina Gomez
g.gomez@plastination.com or 213-291-9572
SPECIMENS IN BODY WORLDS EXHIBITIONS STEM FROM GERMAN BODY DONATION PROGRAM
Heidelberg,
Germany, February 18, 2008—The Institute for Plastination commends
ABC's 20/20 for its investigation on the origin of bodies on display in
public anatomical exhibitions. The program served to inform and educate
the public about anatomical exhibitions in general, and the origins of
bodies used in anatomical exhibitions in particular. However, the
Institute for Plastination wishes to clarify two vague statements made
by anatomist, Dr. Gunther von Hagens to 20/20, that may have confused
Associated Press, other media, and the public about the origin of the
bodies in BODY WORLDS exhibitions. In the interview conducted
entirely in English (Dr. von Hagens' second language), he said that he
had "stopped using bodies from China," and that "he had cremated some
bodies that showed head injuries." His incomplete statements-presented
without context or chronology-led some to conclude that he had once
used Chinese bodies in the BODY WORLDS exhibitions, and had since
ceased to do so. In his interview, Dr. von Hagens neglected to
mention that from 2003 to 2004, he was frequently asked by Chinese
universities to complete plastination of anatomical specimens belonging
to their medical schools. The specimens were delivered by the
universities to Dr. von Hagens for plastination, and returned after the
plastination process. In his interview, Dr. von Hagens failed to
explain that he was referring to his secondary plastination work for
medical schools, and not his primary work of donor plastination for
BODY WORLDS exhibitions. In fact-with the exception of fetuses
from historical anatomical collections pre-dating 1930, and some small
organs from hospital anatomy and pathology programs-all of the
specimens in BODY WORLDS (more than 180 out of 200 specimens per
exhibit), originate from the Institute for Plastination's Body Donation
Program, established in Heidelberg in 1982 and managed by the Institute
for Plastination since 1993. As of January 2008, the Institute
for Plastination's Body Donation roster includes 8244 living donors
from around the world (7076 Germans and 659 Americans) and 546 deceased
donors (538 Germans and 8 Americans). The Institute for Plastination
apologizes for the confusion that arose from the vague statements made
by Dr. von Hagens in his favored, but not first, language.
For more information please contact:
Gail Vida Hamburg, Director of Communications
Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS & Institute for Plastination, Heidelberg, Germany
g.hamburg(at)plastination.com
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