 Using the process of plastination, Body Worlds lets visitors explore the inner workings of the human body. The exhibit has 20 whole-body plastinates and 200 human specimens. (HO)
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It's enough to make people jump out of their skin.
A controversial exhibition of preserved corpses and body parts sliced and diced for your viewing pleasure is coming to Edmonton this summer.
Body Worlds 1: the Original Exhibition of Real Human Bodies features cross-sections of limbs and organs alongside entire bodies stripped of skin, fat and sinew, exposing the skeletal, muscular, circulatory and nervous systems in their naked state.
The show has been seen by more than 25 million people worldwide and has been dubbed the most popular exhibit on the planet.
Edmonton's engagement is expected to draw 250,000 people to the Telus World of Science June 13 to Oct. 13 - attracted as much by morbid curiosity as the chance to explore the human body like never before.
The bodies on display have been donated and preserved using a process called plastination, which replaces body fluids and fat with plastics.
The technique was pioneered in the 1970s by German anatomist and Body Worlds creator Gunther von Hagens.
He established a body donation program for his plastination projects in 1982 and currently has a donor roster of more than 7,000 people.
Among von Hagens's more provocative pieces are a pregnant woman cut in half, fetuses, genitals and a man literally stepping out of his skin.
Telus World of Science president George Smith said most people will see beauty in the specimens rather than gore and expects the $26 tickets to sell out fast.
University of Alberta anatomy professor Dr. Gail Amort-Larson expects the exhibit will be a hit with Edmontonians.
"Medical students especially. At the university they only have the chance to see brain slices, nothing like this. This has the potential to be a transforming growth experience for anyone who sees it," she said.
Go to www.bodyworldsedmonton.com for more.
