An anatomy lecturer has sparked an ethics debate over a Sydney exhibition displaying real human bodies, including some posed having sex, questioning whether donors fully understood how their remains might be presented after death.
UNSW senior lecturer in anatomy and histology Dr Joyce El-Haddad questioned whether donors gave informed consent for the specific ways their bodies could eventually be displayed.
The exhibition, Body Worlds: The Anatomy of Happiness, features real human bodies preserved through a process known as plastination and has attracted millions of visitors around the world over the past two decades.
‘The organisers claim that the bodies have been donated,’ she said in an Instagram post.
‘The bodies are displayed in many different ways – some riding a horse, some in penetrative sexual positions, some with a basketball…and the list goes on.
‘However, informed consent is not a tick box exercise and we need to think about: who donated these bodies? What did they understand they were consenting to? How specific was the consent process?
‘Respect, dignity, transparency, and context do not disappear simply because somebody signed a form.’
Organisers say the exhibition’s body donation program, founded in 1982, has registered more than 21,000 donors globally and forms the ‘ethical cornerstone’ of Body Worlds.
UNSW anatomy and histology lecturer Dr Joyce El-Haddad said she wanted to help the public make an ‘informed decision’ about whether to visit Body Worlds
The exhibition, which opened in Sydney on Monday, has attracted millions of visitors worldwide since launching more than two decades ago
The exhibition has sparked debate after dead bodies were displayed in sexualised poses
The donation program has been managed by the Institute for Plastination in Germany since 1993, although it is no longer accepting new donor applications because it has reached capacity.
A review of the Institute for Plastination’s donor consent documents shows donors agree their remains may be used to create ‘anatomical works of art’ for the ‘medical enlightenment of laypeople’ in museums and exhibitions.
The consent forms state donors acknowledge their bodies may be provided to organisations operating on a commercial basis.
Donors can also express preferences about how their bodies are used, including requesting special poses, although the institute says it ‘cannot guarantee’ those wishes will be fulfilled.
The agreement further states photographs and other images of plastinated bodies may be used indefinitely for educational, scientific and public information purposes.
Body Worlds is marketed as an educational experience designed to increase public understanding of anatomy, health and disease.
However, Dr El-Haddad questioned how much visitors could learn about health, disease, ageing and wellbeing without understanding the life experiences of the people whose bodies are on display.
‘Think about your everyday encounters with people. How much do you assume about someone before you’ve had a conversation with them? Before you’ve listened to their experiences, challenges, choices, and circumstances?
Organisers say its body donation program founded in 1982 has registered more than 21,000 donors globally
Public displays of human remains have a long and often controversial history
‘The exhibition claims that it is educational….okay, but: Education requires more than information.
‘We often assume that simply looking at something means we are learning from it.
‘A diseased lung can show us what happened. It cannot tell us about addiction, socioeconomic disadvantage, environmental exposures, access to healthcare, culture, or the lived experience of disease.
‘Without that context, visitors are left to construct their own narratives and make their own assumptions.
‘And if the exhibition is also open to children, what assumptions are they taking away?’
Dr El-Haddad said her concerns also stemmed from the long and often controversial history of displaying human remains to the public.
Human bodies and remains have previously been exhibited in cabinets of curiosity, travelling fairs, medical museums, carnival sideshows and so-called ‘human zoos’.
She noted such displays have at times been linked to racism, ableism, colonialism, sexism, classism and exploitation, and questioned what distinguished modern body exhibitions from those historical practices.
‘So my question is – what shields modern day human body exhibitions from the same condemnation?’
Despite her concerns, Dr El-Haddad said attending the exhibition was ultimately a matter of personal choice.
‘Well, ultimately that is up to you and I hope this post helps you make a better informed decision that aligns with your values.’
Body Worlds curator Dr Angelina Whalley said the exhibition took particular care with its controversial ‘sex plastinate’, ensuring the bodies came from donors who had explicitly consented to that form of display.
‘Until a few years ago, our body donation program therefore included an additional questionnaire designed to explore more specific boundaries of what donors themselves considered acceptable in the way their bodies might later be presented,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘This included questions concerning particularly intimate forms of anatomical presentation. The purpose was precisely to avoid making assumptions on behalf of donors and to ensure that such displays reflected their own expressed wishes.’
