An exhibition of human bodies preserved through a process called “plastination” will open May 20 at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, it was announced Wednesday.
“Body Worlds: Pulse,” from Gunther von Hagen’s Institute for Plastination, features more than 200 specimens — including whole bodies, body configurations, translucent slices, and organs, as well as 3D displays — that are curated and presented in galleries that focus on the various systems of the body.
The California Science Center introduced “Body Worlds” to North America in 2004, attracting more than 1 million visitors, and staged a subsequent exhibition in 2007-08.
According to organizers, the exhibition “presents the body in health and distress, its vulnerabilities and potential, and many of the challenges the human body faces as it navigates the 21st century.”
The specimens come from the Institute for Plastination’s body donation program, which has more than 16,000 registered body donors, according to Body Worlds.
The specimens are preserved through a process that replaces the natural fluids in the body with reactive plastics that are initially pliable, and then harden after infusion. By hardening the plastic in the specimens, they may be permanently preserved in life-like poses.
Georgina Gomez, a spokeswoman for Body Worlds, declined to say how long the new exhibition will run at the Science Center.
Tickets are $10.95 to $19.95 and may be purchased online at https://californiasciencecenter.org/body-worlds-tickets.
—City News Service