July 19 2010 Monday
I see dead people: Controversial Body Worlds Exhibition
This weekend, I have attended Body Worlds Istanbul exhibition...
Body Worlds (or Körperwelten in German) is an exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts plastinated to reveal anotomical structures from bones to organs. The developer and promoter of this series of exhibition is a German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who is also the inventor of plastination technique.
It is controversial because of two reasons. Firstly, is it ethical to demonstrate a non-living human body as an artistic object. Although the foundation behind Body Worlds emphasizes the popular science aspect, it still disturbs many religious groups and human-rights organizations. The second part of the argument is more disgusting. Gunther von Hagens is accused by using patients from mental institutions or executed prisoners without getting their consents.
As a son of two doctors, I have always been interested in medical science, biology and anotomy. When I was a little kid, I was reading my father's books to understand the human body and its physiology. I was annoying my parents with my endless questions of 'why' and 'how' stuff. I still don't know why I didn't become a doctor.
This weekend, I had the chance to look under the skin. You see many pictures of spleen, liver, brain or heart. But seeing a real one is definitely exciting.
Body Worlds (or Körperwelten in German) is an exhibition of preserved human bodies and body parts plastinated to reveal anotomical structures from bones to organs. The developer and promoter of this series of exhibition is a German anatomist Gunther von Hagens, who is also the inventor of plastination technique.
It is controversial because of two reasons. Firstly, is it ethical to demonstrate a non-living human body as an artistic object. Although the foundation behind Body Worlds emphasizes the popular science aspect, it still disturbs many religious groups and human-rights organizations. The second part of the argument is more disgusting. Gunther von Hagens is accused by using patients from mental institutions or executed prisoners without getting their consents.
As a son of two doctors, I have always been interested in medical science, biology and anotomy. When I was a little kid, I was reading my father's books to understand the human body and its physiology. I was annoying my parents with my endless questions of 'why' and 'how' stuff. I still don't know why I didn't become a doctor.
This weekend, I had the chance to look under the skin. You see many pictures of spleen, liver, brain or heart. But seeing a real one is definitely exciting.
