The Human Body Exhibition comes to Marbella, awesome... or gruesome?

Almost certainly the most controversial event ever to be staged in Marbella, The Human Body Exhibition launches at the resort’s Palacio de Congresos, Ferias  y Exposiciones on 15 June and runs until 14 September. To date having received 20 million visitors during its world tour, the Irish Independent describes the showcase as ‘A surgeon’s eye view of the human body in all its intricate glory’, and since all 200 of the exhibits – ranging from whole corpses to dissected organs – are real, that’s absolutely no exaggeration.

Anatomy or art… awesome or gruesome… breathtakingly beautiful or just plain spooky? Well, only you can decide…

Divided into 8 different areas – human development, the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, nervous and urinary/reproductive systems – and guided by music and sound effects, it takes a little over an hour to tour the showcase and to explore in 3D just how magnificent, amazing and incredible the human body truly is. The Exhibition doesn’t only show visitors exactly what lies beneath our skin though, because its mission is to inspire us all to take better care of our health.

Of course, the issue of consent by deceased individuals put on exhibit is a thorny one, and as the Exhibition slowly wends its way around the globe, it’s inevitably attracted strong criticism on ethical grounds. The provenance of the exhibits is undoubtedly the aspect at the forefront of most people’s minds. Dr Hong-Jin Sui, who has signed, supported and authorised The Human Body Exhibition – professor of Anatomy and director of the Medical University of Dalian’s Department of Anatomy and national director of China’s Society of Anatomical Sciences – explains:

“All the examples on exhibition are unclaimed and unidentified human bodies whose donation has been legally authorised by the mortuaries in the towns where they died and these institutions are also legally authorised for their donation to universities and medical schools in China for the purposes of education, exhibition and investigation.

“They are then transferred to the Dalian Hoffen Laboratory, which only accepts bodies that have been legally donated, are free of infection and contagious diseases and are certified to have died from natural causes, with no wounds, trauma or other signs of physical abuse, torture, assassination or execution.”

The exhibits have all been meticulously dissected and conserved by the revolutionary plastination process and will eventually be cremated. Every corpse and organ is carefully and respectfully displayed and the accompanying information is aimed at visitors of all ages and levels of education, from primary school children to medical students.

Guaranteed to be the talk of the town – or for that matter the entire Costa del Sol – what’s your take on The Human Body Exhibition? Awesome or gruesome… compelling or distasteful? Will you be going… or giving it a miss? Go on, do tell us, ‘cos we’d love to know!

Palacio de Ferias, Congresos y Exposiciones, Calle José Melià 2, Marbella. From 15 June – 14 September 2012.

T: +34 952 828 244.