Romanian Education Ministry asks schools to approve, parents to sign off class visits to 'controversial' Human Body exhibition

After being contested by NGOs in Romania, the Human Body exhibition, currently ongoing at the Antipa Museum in Bucharest is facing a request from the country's Education Ministry, which points out the potential negative emotional impact on children and the controversial aspects of the exhibition.

The Ministry has asked school inspectorates and schools to decide via their boards whether to organize class trips to visit this exhibition, and to have signed agreement from parents in case they do organize the trip. When parents agree, they will also be asked to accompany their children under 12 to the museum trip, where they can see over 200 items - real human bodies, that through organs and tissue dissection offer a real-life perspective of the human body, via the plastination technique, a scientific process that permanently preserves human tissue using liquid silicone rubber. Antipa museum, which is hosting the exhibition until June 30, has asked the Ministry to be clear on what they think is controversial about the exhibition and to publicly prove the claimed negative influence over children. The museum's representatives said they found out about the Ministry's request from the media, and they were disappointed by the lack of communication from the Ministry, which did not even ask for more information about the exhibition from the museum. The museum already invited Bucharest teachers on March 21 to visit the exhibition for free, to asses the exhibition and make an informed decision on bringing their class to the museum. Museum representatives argue that they have no knowledge of the negative impact of the exhibition assessed by any doctor or psychologists specializing in child psychology. The also revealed that the Ministry's note and warning actually became a prohibition further down the line, at school level, as many school inspectors tell schools directly they are not allowed to visit the museum, thus damaging its image. The Human Body exhibition caused controversy all over the world where it was on display, but the positive response of over 90 percent in all the places where in was exhibited encouraged the organizers to continue, said Arnie Geller, CEO GForce Exhibition, which owns and runs the exhibition. Geller admitted the exhibition is not for everyone, and people who have certain religious affiliation may choose not to visit. Over 20 million people in the world already visited the exhibition, which was on display in London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bratislava, Prague, Vienna, Dublin, Kiev, among others. Tickets for The Human Body exhibition cost between RON 32 and RON 60 for individuals and from RON 85 to RON 135 for groups. For groups of over 10 children the price is RON 30 per person. Tickets can be purchased from the Antipa Museum, Germanos, Orange and Vodafone stores, Carturesti and Humanitas bookshops, or online