BODIES: The Exhibition
Interviewing the main human subjects for this article was not easy. They offered “No Comment,” but had much to share. With glassy-eyed, pleasant expressions, they gazed out over their audience quietly teaching each visitor as he passed by. Why were the human subjects being so close-mouthed? After all, they are the stars in the spotlight, these humans are on display at BODIES:The Exhibition, but they are also dead and meticulously preserved.This educational exhibit, opened June 5, is fascinating with no reason to make a face or crinkle your nose. Here is an opportunity to get up close and personal with your anatomy, to see how everything works and fits together. Filling nine galleries and 14,000 square feet, 12 complete bodies and over 250 body specimens are respectfully on display enhanced by exhibition cases, special lighting, and multi-media screens. BODIES…The Exhibition, located at Euclid Avenue and East 4th next to the House of Blues, is a museum quality presentation of the human body detailing nerves, blood vessels, muscles, tissue, organs and bones.
Premier Exhibitions organized and produced this show touring in eight national and five international locations during 2010. This company also owns the salvaging rights to the Titanic and has created a touring exhibition of the recovered treasures and ship hardware.
Premier Exhibitions’s chief medical director Roy Glover, Ph.D., described how the bodies and organs are preserved by a revolutionary process using a clear liquid silicone mixture creating hardened polymer preservation. “It takes over a year to carefully clean and dissect a body, and impregnate it with the liquid silicone,” explained Glover. “We end up with a dry, odorless, viewer-friendly body that we can, for example, color red to emphasize the blood vessels.” Glover previously taught anatomy at the University of Michigan Medical School before joining Premier Exhibitions. Answering where these Cleveland displays came from, he said, “These bodies were left unclaimed and legally obtained for educational purposes.”
The goal of the exhibition is to increase people’s understanding of the bodies they live in. Most people take their bodies for granted when, in fact, they are remarkably sophisticated, well-engineered mechanisms. The show includes a display of two sets of lungs to reveal the dramatic contrast between health and disease. The healthy set shows good color with complete lung tissue. The smoker’s lungs are blackened and filled with interior holes due to cancerous deterioration. There is a trash can nearby in case anyone wants to dispose of their cigarettes.
Felicia Green, RN, MSN, an instructor from the ATS Institute of Nursing Programs in Highland Heights, brought her class of nine nursing students to the exhibition. “This kind of presentation enhances learning, helps students learn more effectively,” Green said. “Every system is shown here and ties everything together. One student wished she had seen this exhibit before taking the anatomy and physiology classes,” she smiled. The skeletal, musculature, nervous, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, urinary and reproductive systems are all presented here in different galleries.
Since its inception in 2004, fifteen million visitors have found this show valuable. “We want people to know about their bodies, how the consequences of their behavior affect their health and wellness,” explained Glover. For more information, visit http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/cleveland. The exhibit continues through the end of October.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul, who says the act of writing is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. The challenge lies in getting the pieces to fit together and make sense.