Spring Break
Where Bodies Are Bought
Ariella Lipetz
Issue date: 11/25/09 Section: Opinions
Human bodies displayed in disturbing poses. Intestines and organs decorating the countless walls. Bones suspended every few feet. Sounds like a scene from a Stephen King novel, but in reality this grotesque display is not found in a book. It is found a mere 30 minutes from Stern College for Women. The destination? South Street Seaport.
"Bodies: the Exhibition" is the latest craze to sweep the nation. Operated by Premier Exhibitions, Inc., the exhibit features real body specimens that have been dissected and preserved via a plastination process that prevents decomposition. Once plasticized, the bodies are strategically placed throughout the exhibit according to bodily systems, starting with the skeletal system and ending with the reproductive system. The exhibit contains a total of twenty complete bodies. Visitors learn about the structures and functions of the human body in depth. Although fascinating and captivating, the exhibit begs the question of where the bodies originate.
In 2008, New York State passed legislation regulating body exhibits. Sponsored by Senator Jim Alesi, the legislation requires any company that exhibits human bodies in a New York museum to produce a permit describing their origin. "None of the material [from "Bodies: the Exhibition"] came from criminal institutions or homes from the mentally insane," according to representatives at the Dalian Medical University Plastination Laboratories. Therefore, visitors were lead to believe that their admission money was going to an ethical company. Little did they know that their money was going to an exhibit rooted in the black market.
A report called the "Secret Trade in Chinese Bodies" was conducted by ABC's "20/20" soon after the release of Dalian Medical University Plastination Laboratories' statement. The report claimed that the bodies displayed at "Bodies: the Exhibition" were obtained from the black market for the nominal fee of $300 a body. Further research led investigators to believe that the bodies were those of executed Chinese prisoners. No documents of consent for donating their bodies to science were recorded. Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General, completed the investigation of Premier Exhibitions, Inc. "Premier Exhibitions has profited from displaying the remains of individuals who may have been tortured and executed in China," found Cuomo. "Despite repeated denials, we now know that Premier itself cannot demonstrate the circumstances that led to the death of the individuals."
"Bodies: the Exhibition" is the latest craze to sweep the nation. Operated by Premier Exhibitions, Inc., the exhibit features real body specimens that have been dissected and preserved via a plastination process that prevents decomposition. Once plasticized, the bodies are strategically placed throughout the exhibit according to bodily systems, starting with the skeletal system and ending with the reproductive system. The exhibit contains a total of twenty complete bodies. Visitors learn about the structures and functions of the human body in depth. Although fascinating and captivating, the exhibit begs the question of where the bodies originate.
In 2008, New York State passed legislation regulating body exhibits. Sponsored by Senator Jim Alesi, the legislation requires any company that exhibits human bodies in a New York museum to produce a permit describing their origin. "None of the material [from "Bodies: the Exhibition"] came from criminal institutions or homes from the mentally insane," according to representatives at the Dalian Medical University Plastination Laboratories. Therefore, visitors were lead to believe that their admission money was going to an ethical company. Little did they know that their money was going to an exhibit rooted in the black market.
A report called the "Secret Trade in Chinese Bodies" was conducted by ABC's "20/20" soon after the release of Dalian Medical University Plastination Laboratories' statement. The report claimed that the bodies displayed at "Bodies: the Exhibition" were obtained from the black market for the nominal fee of $300 a body. Further research led investigators to believe that the bodies were those of executed Chinese prisoners. No documents of consent for donating their bodies to science were recorded. Andrew Cuomo, New York Attorney General, completed the investigation of Premier Exhibitions, Inc. "Premier Exhibitions has profited from displaying the remains of individuals who may have been tortured and executed in China," found Cuomo. "Despite repeated denials, we now know that Premier itself cannot demonstrate the circumstances that led to the death of the individuals."
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