Woman Offers Her Dead Body for Display

摘要：A Toronto woman, not content with having merely a dusty demise, has become the first Canadian to donate her body for public display after she dies.近日，加拿大多伦多的一名妇女表示，愿在死后将遗体捐赠给人体标本展。该妇女成为首位自愿献身“尸体艺术” 的加拿大人。

A Toronto woman, not content with having merely a dusty demise, has become the first Canadian to donate her body for public display after she dies.

The 30-year-old mutual fund worker said the "Body Worlds" exhibition at the Ontario Science Center, which displays real human bodies, would fulfill her desire to have a posthumous purpose.

"I wanted to donate my body to science, but do something a little bit different, so this was perfect," said Stephanie Chapu, citing the educational value of the exhibits.

"Being buried or cremated -- why get rid of your body that way when you can do something else and be useful?"

Chapu said community reaction has been mixed, with friends and family mostly supportive, though some have raised religious or moral objections.

"They have the right to think that, but they should also respect my decision," she said. "I understand it's not for everybody."

More than 16 million people worldwide have viewed the traveling exhibition, organized by the German Institute for Plastination, which houses more than 6,000 donated cadavers, a spokeswoman said.

The exhibits are preserved through plastination, a technique where water and fat in the soft tissue are replaced with plastic polymers.

Whole body specimens are displayed, which reveal bones, muscle, tendons, nerves, blood vessels and organs. Among the exhibits are embryos, fetuses and a pregnant woman who died with her fetus in her womb.

"I like that you can finally see what we look like on the inside in a very tasteful manner. I don't think it's disrespectful at all to the donors," said Chapu.

The exhibition has stirred controversy in the past, with German media alleging some of the bodies were those of Chinese execution victims. The organizers have denied the reports.

近日，加拿大多伦多的一名妇女表示，愿在死后将遗体捐赠给人体标本展。该妇女成为首位自愿献身“尸体艺术” 的加拿大人。

据路透社1月10日报道，名为“人体世界”的人体标本全球巡回展出目前正在加拿大安大略省科技馆举行。现年30岁的斯蒂芬妮·夏普就职于一家基金会，她在参观人体标本展时说：“我想在过世后把遗体用于科学研究且要和常规的方式有所不同，所以参与人体标本展是最好的选择。既然你的身体在死后还可以有所贡献，那为什么还要选择土葬或者火化呢？”

面对周围人对自己打算献身“尸体艺术”的各种反应，夏普表示，朋友和家中大部分的人表示支持，但也有人认为这有悖于宗教和道德，“我明白，不是每个人都可以理解的。他们有权表达自己的想法，但都应该尊重我的决定”。

报道说，自1997年起，已有超过1600万的人参观了由德国解剖研究所组织的世界巡回人体标本展。这些标本的制作采用了德国解剖学专家贡特尔·冯·哈根斯在上世纪70年代末发明的人体塑化技术。尸体的塑化过程为：先把人体解剖，然后脱去水份和脂肪，接着注入一种被叫作硅橡胶的物质，最后经过硬化标本完成。每件塑化人体标本的制作时间需要一年以上，造价都超过6万元人民币。

展览中，观众可以亲眼目睹包括骨头、肌腱、神经、血管和器官，以及胎儿和孕妇等真实的人体标本。但自1997年哈根斯的人体展在德国首次展出开始，世界舆论界，宗教界围绕着人体展是否有损死者尊严的问题，一直在进行争论。

（国际在线独家资讯 蒋黎黎）