Simon Willace v Body Worlds : Melbourne Indymedia

Body Worlds v Simon Willace.

I do not usually write about myself, as I would make very uninteresting material for any article. However as it has turned out I have made the news and it falls upon me, once again, to present the facts as I see them.

My feelings are that the market is already swamped with that type of writer and if readers wanted a product delivered from authorized media, they would buy a fucking paper.

However, like a journalist, I too have a responsibility to deliver a truth, or at the very least, one that I personally believe. I honestly believe I have honoured that obligation with the ‘Amazing Freak show human body exhibition’ article.

However I have made a few mistakes along the way, I have caused harm to the organisation, ‘Body Worlds’ owned by Dr Gunther Von Hagan.

Last month I wrote in the article that a Dr Gunther Von Hagan’s Body world franchise operating under the name of Amazing Human Bodies Exhibition is touring Australia entertaining crowds with the plastic carcasses of executed Chinese political Prisoners.

This turned out not to be the case; but only half of the story, the executed Chinese prisoners may still be touring Australia. However the mistaken link occurred because appearing in AHBE promotional literature was the name Dr Gunther Von Hagan clearly written while no other name was mentioned. The advertising also had a short biography seemingly identifying him as responsible for the Australian show.

I personally interviewed people as they walked out of the show, and like any junior reporter, I have the names and contact details to prove the shared misunderstandings. I asked who was responsible for putting on the exhibition?. They too had read the pamphlets and replied Gunther was named as the man most likely to be responsible, no other company name appears so it seemed to suggest it ‘quacked like a duck’.

However as they quaked in threads and to my email adress, Gunther Von Hagan and body worlds has never toured here and has no intention to do so. They strongly deny any links of association with any touring freak shows other than the ones carrying the Gunther name and I cannot in all honesty back my claim that says otherwise so I retract the alleged business link.

.In the research investigating all exhibitions of plastination I discovered there were many with names like AMHB, Scope, Bodies, Fantastic and Inside story to name a few and plenty of reports to confirm the bodies in all exhibition were also all Chinese like the ones I saw in Australia.

However as I researched and gathered articles from a variety of media, looking for suggestive material linking such exhibitions with von Hagan, I discovered that Von Hagan coincidentaly has two factories in China that prepares bodies for exhibition although he does not use Chinese bodies himself

This is where I became very confused. I could not find any other factories aside from von Hagan’s capable of supplying the market

Why would Gunther have offices in Heidelberg Germany and have two factories in China?

Nevertheless, Gunther Von Hagan and Body worlds were adamant stating that they do not use Chinese cadavers in their displays.

OK they should not suffer because I wrongfully suggested they did. The suppositions I came to from reading many articles led me to imply they were involved in duping the Australian public into believing the bodies on display here are donated by the deceased like the Body Worlds information declares.

The duping however still goes on as the freak show passes through Perth on its way here, but it is not run by Gunther, and is named Amazing human body not Body worlds exhibition, so von Hagan’s operation is OK.

Or is It?

Doubtless, they will sue if I continue a campaign, and have me executed and put my plasticised face in a display, but it’s worth the crack.

How many factories are there, doyouthink, where you can obtain a complete crowd of Chinese plastic body collection for display?

Body worlds has gone all out to refute my claims, which is OK, they posted a right of reply in threads that attacked my style and intelligence. They did the same on their own site and a fake PDF of the Article. Which was quite understandable, as any attack on my character is easy but not a convincing defence against the accusations, and by doing so they made it clear they had plenty to hide.

Are they guilty of turning Executed Chinese prisoners into plastic and selling the displays to other exhibitors?.

Quite honestly and perhaps surprisingly, I do not give a shit. Had it not been for the avalanche of protest from Ms Hamburg the article would not have have as much attention as it has world wide so they have themselves to thank, and I thank them for their time otherwise it may have slipped from these pages in silence.

What bothers me now is that the show that is coming to Melbourne is allowed in Australia at all without being investigated or cleared by an ethics committee.

How can we go to war for democracy and allow a freak show that may exploit pro democracy political prisoners from a nation of an oppressive regime?.

No one else seems to be concerned, aside from readers on IMC and the members of a small fretful group of Christians currently holding vigil outside an American museum prompted by the article.

Perhaps accredited professional journalist should investigate the obvious links forcing our democratic government to act in the interests of human rights, which might be a good thing.

Why don’t we ask them?

Thank you for your time.

>>How can we go to war for democracy and allow a freak show that may exploit pro democracy political prisoners from a nation of an oppressive regime?

Excellent point! But I wouldn't use *democracy, maybe something like egalitarian ideals, etc. I for one have not seen the exhibition, not that I necessarily would but I am glad your article has been instrumental in attracting unwanted attention for this freak show. What are were thinking?

I thought the prisoner who donated (perhaps not) his body to be frozen and photographed as it was shaved into a trillion or so slices was over the top, but this...!

It would be interesting to know what sort of a response these shows recieve in other parts of the world. Have they been banned anywhere? Booed out of town an' such?

I get the picture:

From the newswire:

Comment:

Any nation cruel like China
by Ziggy Thursday May 11, 2006 at 07:12 PM

Any nation cruel like China who take beating hearts from anyone don't deserve any show without proof of the identity of those they seek to display.

Beating, beating, beating beating,

=========================

A timely look at china's human rights!
by Incomprehensible

UK transplant patients go to China for organs

The British Transplantation Society said that "an accumulating body of evidence suggests that the organs of executed prisoners are being removed for transplantation without the prior consent of either the prisoner or their family".

Thousands of organs are thought to be involved in the lucrative trade, it said. Transplant centres, patients, and the Chinese authorities and judiciary could all be implicated in a breach of human rights.

"The British Transplantation Society condemns unreservedly any activity that transgresses an individual's human rights or involves the coercion of an individual to become an organ donor," said Stephen Wigmore, chairman of its ethics committee. "The alleged use of organs from executed prisoners without consent is considered a breach of human rights and is an unacceptable practice. A reported close relationship between transplant units and the authorities regulating executions and the availability of organs is unethical."

http://indymedia.us/en/2006/04/15832.shtml

Tracking Down the Mysterious Organ Sources of China's Shenyang City's Multi-Organ Transplant Center

At present, we know the following cruel facts: most organs for transplants in China come from prisoners, and a large number of them have been removed from prisoners when their hearts were still beating. Organs taken this way may be called "live organs." Referring back to our previous question: In Shenyang City, especially Shenyang Multi-Organ Transplant Center, are there organs belonging to this kind of "live organs"? Take kidney transplant as an example. In China, patients usually have to wait for six months to a year for a kidney transplant, but in CITNAC of the Multi-Organ Transplant Center, patients only have to wait for a week to a month for kidney transplant, and the kidneys are not any inferior than those live ones sold by the poor people.

http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/10984

Australian Surgeons Condemn "Horrific" Organ Trade

Prison inmates are given instructions from a police officer. Leading Australian transplant surgeons have condemned the practice of harvesting organs from executed prisoners.

http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/111764.php

Australians Obtaining Organs From Executed Prisoners

Australian doctors have said Australians have gone to China to receive organ transplants from executed prisoners.

http://sydney.indymedia.org/node/36856

The Amazing Human Body Exhibit at Perth Convention Centre
Now this is either going to be totally fascinating or completely gruesome!!!

"The Amazing Human Body" is a touring exhibit that is currently in Australia and New Zealand for the next two years.

It has already been to Sydney, is currently in Adelaide and is now on it's way to Perth, arriving here Saturday 10th June and staying until Sunday 6th August. It has wowed audiences in both Sydney and Adelaide and sounds well worth a visit.

It is primarily an educational exhibit that gives people a unique view on the inner workings of the human body. It uses real human beings that have donated their bodies to the exhibit and have been preserved by means of "plastination". This process leaves a dry and odourless body that stays unchanged for an unlimited amount of time.

From looking at their website, it sounds as if it's been completely fascinating to everyone who has visited it.

For tickets, you need to buy online at http://www.ticketek.com.au

For lots more information and a sneak peek at what you would be seeing, take a look at http://www.amazinghumanbody.com.au

However I have made a few mistakes along the way, I have caused harm to the organisation, ‘Body Worlds’ owned by Dr Gunther Von Hagan.

------------------
Simon, maybe this will help your investigations...

The "Amazing Human Body Exhibition" is being organised and run in Australia by;
Redtail Group Australia Pty Ltd.
ACN: 102 595 255 ABN: 19 102 595 255

The domain, http://www.amazinghumanbody.com.au
was regsitered by a Allan Zhang, and apparently designed by Kensoft Hosting (ref: http://www.kensoft.com.au/custom.htm)

The only real 'interesting' part of the story begins to unravel with the consistant connections to "Irrigation Research & Extension Committee Inc." which is a part of the CSIRO Land & Water Research.
The Listed main contact for this CSIRO department is based out of Griffith NSW and also happens to be the technical contact for the AmazingHumanBody domain name - Nell Snaidero (Admin Office for CSIRO)
Ref: http://www.griffith.nsw.gov.au/Directory/S2_Print.asp?S2Key=3&S3Key=11

My self and I got not reply from Red tail, the CSIRO looks interesting, but what exactly did you find?

The redtail group start at the top of their web page by lying, they say (and this is all cut and paste:)

'Prior to The Amazing Human Body, this type of real anatomical detail has been hidden behind closed doors and could only be experienced by select members of the medical community.'

This type of display has been touring since 1995, since Gunther stopped, calling it art and presented it as educational.
The bodies used by 'Amazing' are only two years old, that is to say, that two years ago they were living breathing & very worried living people, all stiffs I saw were young males. They had no idea Amazing was going to use their bodies because Amazing and redtail did not exist until a year ago*.

(Cannot confirm, stonewalled, does anyone know?)

Here is some more shit from under the redtail...

“The purpose of displaying The Amazing Human Body is to inspire the general public to learn more about how the human body functions and how lifestyle choices, affect the body"

There is one smokers lung in a glass case, to show "how lifestyle choices, may affect the body" While other displays show the flayed mutilated remains of Chinese people posed as athletes....not a good look if your trying to say fitness improves your health!

Redtail doesnt seem too honest about anything.

Heres some more shit. Now do not get confused, with any other displays of mutilated humans, Von Hagan has nothing to do with Amazing, no association no connection, think chalk and cheese, vicars and paedophiles soldiers and thieves.

Skinless wonders come down under

(Sydney, Australia - 16th January 2006) - Sydney Super Dome at Sydney Olympic Park will be the first location in Australia to host the internationally renowned AMAZING HUMAN BODY EXHIBITION, which opens to the public on Friday 3 February 2006. More than 18 million people have seen similar exhibitions around the world since it opened in Germany in 1997; however, this is the first time that an exhibition of this type has been seen in Australia.

The AMAZING HUMAN BODY EXHIBITION will explore topics such as health, anatomy and physiology through the study of real human bodies that have been preserved through a revolutionary technique called plastination. More than 20 aesthetically posed whole body specimens, including transparent vertical and horizontal body slices, together with more than 400 anatomical specimens, will be on display.

“The AMAZING HUMAN BODY EXHIBITION is an enthralling experience that will give our visitors an imaginative new way of considering the wonders of the human body,” said Brian Newman, CEO Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

“Visitors will gain a new perspective on their bodies and the effects of healthy lifestyle choices. We are excited to bring this once in a life time exhibition to the SuperDome and in fact be the first to host this event in Australia.”

Human beings have been trying to see inside the body for thousands of years. Our fascination with anatomy goes back to the times of ancient Egypt and likely even before then. Organic decay makes it difficult for us to study human anatomy and for centuries scientists have been searching for better preservation techniques.

Plastination, invented by Dr. Gunther von Hagens in 1977 at the University of Heidelberg, is a vacuum process whereby the body’s water and fat is replaced with reactive plastics that are initially pliable and then harden after infusion. All tissue structures are retained. Unlike plastic models, plastinated specimens are intricate, REAL displays of human anatomy. It takes an average 1,500 hours to transform a cadaver into a full-body plastinate.

The exhibits (or plastinates) will be divided into many specialised areas including locomotion, circulation, digestive, respiration, urogenital, reproductive and nervous systems, allowing visitors to examine the body’s role in everyday activities. Key points of interest will be parts of the body which cause so many of us pain and discomfort, such as the spinal column. Perhaps the most instructive plastinate will be the lungs ravaged by tobacco, blackened by tar and soot.

The specimens on display will provide visitors with a completely new vision of the human body. The greatest lesson of the AMAZING HUMAN BODY EXHIBITION will be the importance of good health. Some visitors leaving exhibitions in the UK and Germany resolved to give up cigarettes or alcohol, eat more healthily and take up regular exercise.

“The exhibits seek to inform the public of the value of healthy lifestyle choices and the physical consequences of harmful habits,” said Paul Lui, Chairman Amazing Human Body Exhibition.

“Special education programs will be set up for both primary and secondary school students. We want to help them understand and appreciate their complex bodies, to inform and motivate them - to help them act in a more healthy way!”

The AMAZING HUMAN BODY EXHIBITION is a captivating display of our body that is amazing, astounding, spectacular and confronting!

The exhibition will be open from 10am to 5pm weekdays and 10am to 6pm on weekends. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketek (http://www.ticketek.com) or at the door. Special evening viewings and networking functions can be organised on request for special interest groups such as sporting clubs, art schools, industry associations and medical organisations.

It is anticipated that the exhibits will take several hours to view.

Media contact:

Anna-Greta Pearl
MarketingFX Pty Limited
M 0416 258 552
E agp@marketingFX.net

Taken form the Amazing Human Body Exhibition website:

Plastination of Specimens

In 1977 Gunther von Hagens invented and patented the process known as plastination.

If Gunther von Hagans patented the process known as plastination which is what the human body exhibition is all about, it means that proceeds would go to him every time a body is plastinated.

Hagan had the patent up until a few years ago, but still has two factories in Dalian.
He also had to remove 7 bodies from exhibit because they had bullet holes in their heads.
Amazing bought their bodies from somewhere, where? is the question, all roads seem to lead to Dalian China , but no ones talking.

I suggest someone contact Redtail and ask the following

Dear sir,

I am interested in studying the art of plastination. Would you please forward me the contact details of the people responsible for creating your display.

I thought the whole objective of patenting is to ensure noone profits from your invention.

In 1981, he filed his patent for “Animal and Vegetal Tissues Permanently Preserved by Synthetic Resin Impregnation. Same thing but different name. There is no other patent that I can see belonging to anyone else.

Let us play, if the present day Nazi support squad launched an informative inspired educational exhibition of Third Reich achievements. How many states would host the display?
Why is it we are hosting the very worst example of what happens when a surplus in population needs oppression?

This land was not settled by criminals, because like China in those days a conviction was contrived to get the poor off the street. With jails over flowing China must now clear its own surplus, but should we have to pay admission to see the collateral damage?

Surely this is too great a cost for consumerism.

Hi Simon,
An ASIC search on Redtail Group Australia Pty Ltd, the company doing the exhibition here, found:

Extracted from ASIC's database at AEST 21:23:52 on 04/06/2006
Name REDTAIL GROUP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
ACN 102 595 255
ABN 19 102 595 255
Type Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Registration Date 23/10/2002
Next Review Date 23/10/2006
Status Registered
Locality of Registered Office Campsie NSW 2194
Jurisdiction Australian Securities & Investments Commission

Former Name(s) AUSTRALIA HOTLINE PTY. LTD.

These are the documents that ASIC has most recently received from or in relation to this organisation. Page numbers are shown if processing is complete and the document is available for purchase.

Date Number Pages Description

18/01/2005 7E0302869 3 484 Change to Company Details

484E Appointment or Cessation of a Company Officeholder

484N Changes to (Members) Share Holdings

18/01/2005 7E0302906 2 484A1 Change to Company Details Change Officeholder Name Or

Address

02/06/2003 10259525M 3 316L (AR 2002) Annual Return - Proprietary Company

----------------------------------------------------------------
From searching at:
http://www.search.asic.gov.au/

Redtail has a Registration Date of 23/10/2002, were they in the body trafficking industry back then?
What was the business of the company before 2004, from what I can find out this trade in prison waste is a new enterprise. "Group is as an ambiguous title as Retail”

I’d like to share with you email correspondence from the states. There, a citizen has taken it upon herself to take a stand against “corpse trafficking”

Hi Simon
Well I couldn't make it to the Museum to picket like I did last week end... but I did appear before the Houston City Council last Wed. I was nervous but I read aloud what I wanted to say... that it is an atrocity whether or not the bodies consented or not. I explained there is a time and place for things and displaying dead people in such a mocking kind of why is horrible, and that it is all about money! I told them I understood how cadavers are used in Medical Schools and for research and for much needed and life saving organ transplants... but this!.. THIS is for money... like the strange bearded woman, Siamese twins and two headed calves at the circus freak show.

You are right on coining it a freak show! I definitely used that word when addressing the issue.

After I finished...I said thank you and began to walk away... but then one of the Council Members spoke up... and when they do that it's a good sign... she made some comments.. like "so your saying that this really goes beyond science and art and is not... she hesitated as if to get me to talk... which I did... and went on to tell them about this multimillion dollar industry "which I call 'the corpse trafficking industry' "... and that it needs to be stopped all together... not only in Houston but everywhere!

I spoke about Hagen a little and his father being a Nazi and I quoted this from Forbes Magazine about Hagen and His father (Forbes hates the whole industry too)

I did mention that 2 factories were in Dalian China and another in Kyrgyzstan... and a little history of Hagen... but I didn't want to focus too much on Hagen, as he’s just part of the horrendous picture, but his business is here, so he’s the focus as far as Houston is concerned and he invented the whole evil business...

I wanted to focus on the industry... but it's history was vital to bringing home the point. I repeated the word "Atrocity at least 3 or 4 times". It's not about Hagen or not really the evil ways they get the bodies or where they come from, even if some consent, it is about the whole industry (other companies are doing this too... not just Hagen... he sold the rights for $500,000.00)

I told them it’s important this ‘freak show corpse trafficking industry” need to be shut down... I said it should start at least in America... where baseball is still baseball and apple pie is still apple pie and (hopefully) in most homes God is still revered as God and all that is holy is holy... Houston is so God fearing, so I used that power to clout the message home.

So after the council member was satisfied she asked for the packet of information I had for them... and not only she received the info... but another council member told me she would make copies for the rest of the council members. I included several articles and websites... even a testimony in front of the Congress of the United States.

A friend and I are pulling out the big guns... we are going for the big fish... we will be talking to the government about making some laws prohibiting this exhibit from ever showing in the US. The problem with having such a free nation is that unfortunately it can allow this kind of thing into the camp. But the issue should not be freedom... the issue should be respect for the dead... in every arena... whether dead people are buried, cremated, used respectfully in Medical Universities or research centres... or for organ transplants ... but not for entertainment for the price of a ticket.

Sorry... I didn't think to get a picture of me speaking to the City Council... but my friend Elizabeth told me that channel 56 news had their camera on me.... I just wanted them to have the information on this evil industry... and now some have it. But we want to reach more... bigger groups... groups that can make a change.

People around me know more about government and such. Eventually I would like to speak to the US Congress or whatever office would be appropriate to stop such an industry on American Soil. It is an atrocity!

Oh later after I sat down from speaking to them... this lady came up to me from the crowd that was sitting in the benches behind us (about 40 t0 50 people all together)... this lady came up behind me... gently tapped me on the shoulder and said..."Are you saying there are real dead bodies on display at the Museum?"...with this look of unbelief on her face. I said "Yes they are real dead bodies."... and my whole point became clear to her..."That should be illegal."...she whispered to me. I said "I know... It should be very illegal"

So instead of sweating another hot Saturday effecting only a few we want to go to the top... how ever that may be or look... not quiet sure... but this is a battle... not just mine... but many. I still have such a passion for this issue... to fight it... to take a stand. And so I will go where He leads. Keep you posted.

Your friend,
Carol

Hi Simon,

Regarding your "Just In" article, I notice that you've featured my article in it's entirety which is great but I'd appreciate you acknowledging the source with a link back to my website.

Cheers.

My mistake, but I'm glad your here.

Those who are interested will grab the key words from just in and find your site, those who do not will take the ref as is.

If your link was in the original article it would have been lifted in the cut and paste, I did not omit.

All fixed

Exhibition of Chinese corpses pits science against morality

Deborah Haynes | London, United Kingdom

Guardian

13 April 2006 11:59

A fetus lies scrunched inside a jar near the dissected corpse of a woman and an array of human organs. All are from China and all feature in an exhibition that is causing a stir in London.

The organisers of Bodies ... The Exhibition say the use of real specimens provides a unique opportunity for people to learn more about the human anatomy. Opponents, however, argue that treating anonymous corpses like dummies is wrong and have called for the "freak show" to be shut down.

Adding to the controversy, supporters of the Falun Gong group, a religious sect banned in China, are worried about the identity of the human exhibits, warning that they could have been political prisoners.

Holding a dart, stretching or just sitting down -- these are some of the poses struck by 22 cadavers in the display at Earls Court, west London, which opened on Wednesday. Each one is naked, specially preserved and dissected to reveal a specific part of the body, such as the skeleton, nervous system, muscles or circulation.

More than 260 human organs and other body parts are also showcased, including a bladder, a spleen, at least three hearts and a brain.

Roy Glover, the event's chief medical advisor, said: "We thought the best way to educate people would be to prepare an exhibition of real bodies that they could actually visit and learn from."

Everything on show -- from a five-week old embryo to a man aiming a basketball, his torso sliced open and penis hanging limp -- was once alive.

Visitors, for £15, can study the exhibits, which are divided into rooms with different anatomical themes. Bodies stand in the open surrounded by other parts, such as a healthy lung next to a smoker's blackened one, encased in glass cabinets. Each item has a placard explaining its significance.

"It is amazing, I have learned a lot," said Stephen Bull (10) as he studied the body of a man poised to kick a football.

The skin on the corpse's face is still intact, revealing his Chinese origins. The faces of many exhibits are unrecognisable, having been peeled away to show a person's eyes, nose and even brain.

One room is filled with human embryos, fetuses and even lifeless new-born Chinese babies.

While marvelling at the display, some people were also slightly disturbed.

"We just found out about the bodies being Chinese with no kin, which we have been debating and I am not sure how I feel about that," said Kate Stevens (21) who was visiting the show with her mother and two sisters.

Premier Exhibitions, the United States firm behind the event, said it obtained the corpses legitimately from the Dalian Medical University in north-east China.

The people had died of natural causes, but their bodies were never claimed, which meant -- as in most countries -- that they became government property to be used for educational or research purposes, Glover told Agence France-Presse.

Asked why only Chinese bodies were used and not those from elsewhere, Glover said: "That is where the best dissectors in the world live and work."

Skilled dissectors are vital to ensure a body is properly carved up to make the exhibition more educational for the public, said Glover.

Falun Gong supporters, however, said they feared some of the bodies or parts may have come from members of the sect who they claim have been held at labour camps in China and killed for their organs.

About a dozen members of the European Friends of Falun Gong demonstrated outside the exhibition on Wednesday, calling on the organisers to give them the identities of each body to ensure they had not been political prisoners.

Social commentator Norman Lebrecht took a stronger tone, condemning the exhibition altogether and demanding it to closed. "There is no moral ambivalence to this show. It is utterly and irredeemably wrong from conception to execution," he wrote in London's Evening Standard newspaper.

Lebrecht also touched on the mysterious identity of the corpses.

Noting an assurance from Glover that they were not political prisoners, the commentator added: "How does he know? The Chinese government told him so."

Premier Exhibitions is showing three similar displays of Chinese bodies in the United States and a fourth in Mexico City.

Bodies... The Exhibition mirrors the Body Worlds show created by German professor Gunther von Hagens. -- AFP

Who is running man?

They came from China, unidentified, unclaimed. We don't know their names, or if they mind our stares.

By KEVIN GRAHAM and BILL DURYEA
Published July 28, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TAMPA - In death, they have a relationship with the world far more intimate than when blood ran through their veins. Now, they expose the core of their being to thousands of strangers.

Yet when they were alive, the people whose preserved bodies soon will be on exhibit at Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry never gave their permission to be part of such an the unusual public display.

The bodies belonged to people from China who died unidentified or unclaimed by family members, said Dr. Roy Glover, a retired University of Michigan anatomy and cell biology professor and spokesman for "Bodies, the Exhibition," which opens next month at MOSI. As a result, their remains went to the Dalian Medical University of Plastination Laboratories in the People's Republic of China. The university in turn charges a fee to use the bodies for educational purposes.

"We acquired these bodies. They were not donated," said Glover, medical director for Premier Exhibitions of Atlanta, the same group that brought the Titanic shipwreck exhibit to MOSI in 2003-04.

That contradicts what Glover told the Times two weeks ago when he said all the bodies had been donated to medical facilities.

"There is no way for us to tell who they are," said Wit Ostrenko, president of MOSI, which on Wednesday unveiled "Running Man," one of 20 fully preserved cadavers in various poses that will be part of the 14,000-square-foot exhibit from Aug. 20 to Feb. 26.

Glover hesitated to speculate what these people would have said about how science is using their bodies.

"These particular individuals are helping us to understand our bodies," said Glover. "I think they would be pleased."

Some experts in medical ethics aren't.

"I don't think the people who do these shows have proven where these bodies come from," said Michael Sappol, the curator/historian at the National Library of Medicine and the author of A Traffic of Dead Bodies: Anatomy and Embodied Social Identity in 19th Century America. Their methods "don't meet the current standards of informed consent" about the use of the body after death.

Glover said it is possible to operate legally and ethically without such consent.

In some states, if a person dies and can't be identified by a medical examiner or family member, local university medical schools have an opportunity to receive the remains for study.

Glover said when he worked in Michigan, there was a 30-day grace period after the university received the body during which time it did not use it. That time, Glover said, was used to make one last attempt to locate family members or identify the person. After 30 days, the university could do what it wanted with the body.

Glover said he assumed a similar process was used in China for acquisition of specimens for "Bodies, the Exhibition."

Sappol rejects the explanation that Chinese officials have authorized the use of the bodies, "because the Chinese government is a notorious violator of bioethical standards."

In response, Glover said, "The bodies that we were able to obtain were all legally obtained."

Still, questions have been raised as to whether cadavers and organs used in other popular exhibits of preserved human forms are obtained from Chinese prisoners shot execution-style to feed an international black market. Gunther von Hagens, the German originator of "Body Worlds," the first such exhibit of its kind, has been accused of such practices in the German media. Von Hagens has denied using specimens that were killed in violent prison deaths.

Von Hagens also has a lab in Dalian that does "plastination," or the special preservation process used in these exhibits. He was fined in April for claiming he earned the title "professor" in Germany, when he received the title in China from the Dalian Medical University - the same university that supplied "Bodies, the Exhibition" with its specimens.

But Glover said that any work or controversy surrounding von Hagens "totally does not relate to us." He said Premier Exhibitions has no affiliation with von Hagens and does not acquire the bodies of prisoners.

Informed consent is not a universal standard outside the United States. Other countries, such as Austria and Belgium, apply a concept called "pure presumed consent" - in which organs may be taken without notification of a dead person's family. The onus is on citizens to explicitly opt out of the system.

In 1968, the U.S. government created the 1968 Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, which guides the donations of 90 to 95 percent of the bodies now used at medical schools, Sappol said. Overwhelmingly, these bodies belong to people who died in their 60s to 90s, which is an age group that is not as appealing to creators of preserved body exhibits, Sappol said.

Von Hagens "wants prime specimens," Sappol said. "So he gets most of his bodies from China and Central Asia."

Glover said the age range of bodies coming to MOSI was confidential but on record in Dalian.

Jeffrey Spike, a bioethicist at the Florida State University College of Medicine, said he is suspicious of using youthful specimens if it means avoiding informed consent.

"If a 70-year-old body is good enough for a medical student to learn all she needs about anatomy, then why isn't it good enough for these exhibitions?" Spike said. "That indicates this is more voyeurism, that you want to see younger bodies."

Premier Exhibitions paid Dalian Medical University a fee to use the specimens for education. Calls to Premier to ascertain the amount of the fee were not returned.

"None of these things we have in the exhibition are bought," Glover said. "It's illegal to sell human materials."

Technically, Glover said, that means the bodies must be returned to Dalian Medical University, the original owner, if Premier Exhibitions ever stops using them for education. Anyone who sought bodies for private ownership would run afoul of international law banning the sale of human tissue.

For now, the question of who these people were likely will not be answered, even in an age when sophisticated genetic analysis is so widespread.

Glover said that it is possible to use DNA to identify remains. But not everyone has a sample of their DNA on file, he said. The people used in MOSI's exhibit probably didn't.

Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this story.

I think the problem with these exhibits is the lack of respect given to the bodies of the deceased. We all should be treated with a sense of dignity, and the body should be given the respect that the person would have received when alive. These exhibits are about show business and money, and could just as easily been done with plastic modesl. Visit my website at
http://homepage.mac.com/readers/dignityinboston/dignityinboston.html
for more information.

I agree with you Aaron. After reading your website, set up to inform people and allow them to sign your petition is a great idea. I learned that it is not that the corpses consented or did not conscent. It is that WE as the human race have a responsiblity to show respect to our fellow dead humans. Have peoples hearts grown so cold? Won't plastic models do as well? I would think you would feel diminished after viewing it... and a bit ashamed of yourself for contributing to such an immoral thing. Oh people... have you forgotten how to blush? Is there nothing sacred anymore inside your soul? Have respect for the dead! Do not buy a ticket to see any such multimillion dollar show... for this only encourages more shows and more dead people skinned, peeled and plastintized. Doesn't this make you sick!!!!* Hello people out there!!!* Wake up!!!* Wake up!!!* Wake up!!! Those are real dead people once alive and held in their mamas arms and LOVED! Yes loved and respected. Those who are for it... Please!!! don't give me anymore of your educational bla bla or intellectual mish mash... have you no respect for the dead! Could you view your own brother or sister or baby up there? I don't think so. I really don't think so.

Run Away (Made in China)

What the hell are you looking at?
You got a problem?

I remember the knock
of my father’s knuckles

against
my mother’s
numbness

I hear it
every time
a patron
drops an item
on these
hard-wood floors

Look!
Here comes
a family
to see me
stripped
of my dignity

beyond
nakedness

I once had a family:
wife, daughter and son
till I became
my father’s clone

and they
ran away
from me

Now I stand posed
running
at the science museum

Went from field
to factory
to alcohol
to drugs

Opium stole
my life
in the back alley
of the Red Dragon

No one came
to claim
my body

so the government
sold me
to the
plastination
people

And here
I stand
the same
in death
as in life

Not a prophet
but a profit
a spectacle.

I personally dont feel a lack of respect when i view the human body in it's plastinated form. I dont believe this is because i have a cold heart or no soul. I think it is purely because we as the human race are currently in a transitional phase. Evolution doesnt just take place on a physical level. Our minds are continuing to question, and actively developing new ideas, opinions and morals which spring board our very development.
Whilst some will call it desensitisation, others will call it realisation.
There is no doubt some viewers will be shocked by Von Hagen’s “plastination” techniques to preserve and display a real, once living human being’s innards, however I feel we should step back and realise that for the first time in history we are able to see the “real thing”. Not a fake mould based on rough estimations. Whilst some may call Von Hagen “Doctor death”, they must first understand that his creation is a medical/scientific dream come true! His work will lead to a better understanding of the human body, allowing doctors and surgeons to create more effective preventative treatments that could ultimately save lives.
If we are unable to look past the current biases that have stemmed from societal constructs in the areas of medicine, mankind and what it means to be respectful, we will be depriving ourselves of advancement.

Thank You. I loved the beyond nakedness part. I think that's what I was trying to express.

Thank you. I'm signing the petition too. I loved what you said about intellectual mishmash. This grey thinking everyone pushes has really left us completely unable to think.

Dr. Hagan isn't the only one capable of suppling full-body specimens. There is a public company in U. S. - Premier Exhibitions (Nasdeq tick symbol: PRXI), who leases plastinized bodies from Dalin University, China at very expensive rate. They are competitor to Body World over U. S. So I don't suppose Dr. Hagan like to help them out. They also shouldn't be the one behind Austrilia exhibit. If they are, they would proudly include in News Release. Still, it seems very coincident that Dr. Hagan's factory locates at Dalin city.