Asia PR News

HEIDELBERG, Germany, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ –

HEIDELBERG, Germany, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ — Recent reports in the
Australian and New Zealand media about an exhibit of dissected human
bodies — now showing in Sydney — have led many unsuspecting members of the
Australian and New Zealand public to believe, that the display is in some way
related to me and BODY WORLDS, the anatomical exhibitions I created using
Plastination — the method of specimen preservation that I invented in 1977.

There are fundamental errors in the organizers’ representations to
Australian and New Zealand media that ought to be of concern to all members of
the Australian and New Zealand press corps. In widely disseminated reports,
the organizers have tried to affiliate and align themselves with BODY WORLDS,
suggested associations with BODY WORLDS by copying our written materials, and
passed of as their own, the goodwill, public acclaim, and singular
achievements (such as our unique body donation program) that are BODY WORLDS’
alone. They have erroneously stated that their exhibition in New York has
generated 300 body donors, and that they use donated bodies, when neither of
these statements can possibly be true. The copycat exhibition in New York by
another entity is not by the organizers of the Australian exhibit.
Furthermore, as an anatomist managing a Plastination laboratory in Dalian,
China since 2000, I am familiar with the deeply entrenched cultural belief
that forbids Chinese people from donating their post-mortal bodies for public
display. It would be in the interest of both the Australian people who view
the exhibit, and the most vulnerable of Chinese nationals — the unclaimed and
found Chinese dead — for the Australian and New Zealand press to investigate
the origins of the bodies on display in the Sydney exhibit.

In recent weeks, we have received many letters from indignant Australians
who went to see the display under the impression that it was, if not an
exhibition sponsored by me, at least an extension of BODY WORLDS. As a public
anatomist, I feel compelled to speak, as the Sydney display violates all the
principles of quality, aesthetic refinement, and teaching philosophy that I
have strived to embrace in my 32-year career as an anatomist for lay people.
As a public service to the people of Australia and New Zealand, I urge the
Australian and New Zealand press corps to investigate the Sydney exhibit more
fully. I also offer my assistance on the subject, out of professional
courtesy and out of concern for the Australian and New Zealand public, as well
as the Chinese people, in the face of this commercial enterprise.

For more information, contact Gail Vida Hamburg, Media Liaison for
Dr. Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS, g.hamburg@plastination.com
or call (USA) 312 602 5369.

SOURCE BODY WORLDS

CONTACT: Gail Vida Hamburg of BODY WORLDS
+1-312-602 5369
g.hamburg@plastination.com

Web site: http://www.bodyworlds.com