BODIES...The Exhibition

Last night I went to the opening of the BODIES...The Exhibition in Winnipeg at the MTS centre exhibition place on Portage Ave. The tickets cost me about $19.00 each when I bought them online. I was really looking forward to this part of my province exploration because of how controversial it was for some people in the city.
The controversial topics are:

•  How the bodies are accumulated (prisoners from China?)
•  How the bodies are treated (skinned, de-boned, pulled apart, etc)
• Respecting the dead
• The fetal development section

Upon arriving at the centre, my group was informed that photographs, cellphones, and chewing gum were forbidden. This both surprised and disappointed me as nowhere on the tickets did it say that cameras weren't allowed, which is typically what TicketMaster does. The exhibition hosts did, however, offer to take my picture at the entrance and PhotoShop in a body for a whopping $8.00. So I did what any starving student would do, I stealthily took pictures when no one was looking(thanks to my awesome new Ipod Touch)! That being said, please excuse any mediocre or just plain bad pictures. I was under stress.

The two-floor exhibit starts at the top of a stair case with cases showing the muscles in different parts of the body. I had (for the price of $5.00) bought an audio guide to help me understand just what was going on in front of me. Each body part came with two sets of numbers. One set was for adults and the other for children. I, being completely biologically inept, selected the children's take on the body.

We arrived very shortly after the doors opened at 6:30 pm to a relatively empty exhibit. But soon after, the place was full of people. I was happy to see this because then my audio guide explaining things to me in "childspeak" wouldn't be echoing in the quiet hall (embarrasssing) and I could get a look at what kind of people are creepy enough to check it out- besides me, obviously! Although, this surge of people made it harder and harder to sneak pictures.

< This is a picture of the skull and the arteries in the head.

**FUN FACT: Girls' brains account for 2.5% of their body weight whereas boys' brains only account for 2%.** I felt a silent victory when reading this until it sunk in that girls typically weigh less than boys...

Speaking of the brain, I HELD ONE LAST NIGHT! No big deal. It was in my hands while a biology student regaled me with the story about Phineas Gage and how brain damage affected his personality. Apparently I learned that in Intro to Psych but it was way more memorable this time. I suspect this is because of the actual brain.. in my hands.

I decided it was best to leave out pictures of the fetal development section. It was interesting to see how a baby's skin changes and what they look like at different stages.. but I wasn't going to be the person posting (unauthorized)pictures of babies floating in jars on the internet.

<I really enjoyed this hitchhiking skeleton

I think the BODIES exhibit was really interesting. It is only in Winnipeg until January so I reccommend that everyone go and check it out. I didn't find that I was offended by how the bodies were displayed but I did find a sign regarding that subject that I wanted to share with my blog readers.

I know it is really hard to read because of the horrible photograpy skills so I will rewrite it."The bodies in this Exhibit have been displayed with the dignity and respect they so richly deserve."

This sign (that was located right by the Exit) made me laugh because of it's last attempt efforts of dissuading people from being offended by the exhibit. I suspect this sign was intended to be geniune but it ended up just sounding sarcastic. Or is that just me?

To see the rest of my pictures, please click on the following like:
BODIES... The Slideshow