WORLD-RENOWNED "BODIES" EXHIBITION COMING TO BUDAPEST
Budapest, 09-05-08 — Premier Exhibitions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRXI) today announced that the highly anticipated BODIES…The Exhibition will open this May 24th in Budapest at the VAM Design Center. Now seen by more than eight million visitors, the Exhibition features real, whole and partial body specimens that have been meticulously dissected and preserved through an innovative process, giving visitors the opportunity to view the complexity of their own organs and systems like never before.
"The educational impact of this exhibition is immeasurable," said Dr. Roy Glover, professor emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Michigan and chief medical director for BODIES. "For centuries, the medical community has learned about the inner workings of the human body through the study of real human bodies, and now it's possible for the public to gain an intimate knowledge as well."
The Exhibition takes visitors through galleries providing an up-close look inside the skeletal, muscular, reproductive, respiratory, circulatory and other systems of the human body. Many of the whole body specimens are dissected in vivid athletic poses, allowing the visitor to relate to everyday activities. In addition, authentic human specimens illustrate the damage caused to organs by over-eating and lack of exercise. A healthy lung is featured next to a black lung ravaged by smoking in a vivid comparison more powerful than any textbook image. The Exhibition will change the way people see themselves. It is designed to enlighten, empower, fascinate, and inspire.
The human body specimens in the exhibition are preserved through a revolutionary technique called polymer preservation. In this process, human tissue is permanently preserved using liquid silicone rubber that is treated and hardened. The end result is a rubberized specimen, preserved to the cellular level, showcasing the complexity of the body's many bones, muscles, nerves, blood vessels and organs. The full-body specimens can take more than a year to prepare.
The Exhibition is currently receiving worldwide acclaim attracting nearly eight million visitors in cities such as New York, Las Vegas, Vienna, Madrid and Santiago.
Tickets for this popular exhibition on sale from May 9th and can be obtained by logging onto www.bodiesbudapest.hu or calling 36 1 66-63-153. Due to high demand and record-setting attendance generated by the Exhibition in other cities, organizers urge the public to purchase advance tickets to ensure admittance when the Exhibition opens in Budapest.
Adults are 3.300,- / 3.900,- Seniors (62+) are 2.500,- / 3.000,- and Children (4-14) 1.750,- / 2.100,- (weekdays/weekends & holiday). Discounted prices are available to groups.
Exhibit hours are 10:00 — 20:00 everyday.
THE PROCESS OF POLYMER PRESERVATION
Polymer preservation, the process used to preserve the specimens for BODIES ... THE EXHIBITION, is a revolutionary technique in which human tissue is permanently preserved using liquid silicone rubber. This prevents the natural decay process, making specimens available for study for an indefinite time period. Polymer preservation provides a closer look at the skeletal, muscular, nervous, respiratory, digestive, urinary, reproductive, endocrine and circulatory systems by unveiling the mysteries of the human anatomy.
How It Works:
- Anatomists fix a specimen with chemicals to temporarily halt the decaying process. They then dissect it to expose important structures.
- All of the water is removed from the specimen by replacing it with acetone.
- The specimen is placed into a liquid silicone mixture within a vacuum chamber. Under vacuum, the acetone becomes a gas that is completely replaced by the polymer mixture.
- Lastly, the silicone polymer is hardened. The end result is a dry, odorless, permanently preserved specimen containing no toxic chemicals. It retains the look of the original, but functions as if it were rubber.
Preparation time varies. A small organ may take only a week, while a full-body specimen may take up to one year to prepare.
