Body Worlds Vital has been Extended!

For Immediate Release

February 23, 2011

Change of Heart: BODY WORLDS Vital exhibition to keep beating through April at The Tech Museum

World-premiere blockbuster extended after solid reviews, overflowing crowds

SAN JOSE – BODY WORLDS Vital, which has sold more than 90,000 tickets in the three months since the blockbuster opened its doors to critical review and jam-packed crowds, will have an extended stay at The Tech Museum.

The popular exhibition will now remain in Silicon Valley until April 24, 2011.

The announcement comes just as Americans take stock of their health during February’s American Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In 2010, an estimated 785,000 Americans had their first heart attack. Nearly every 25 seconds, someone in the United States will have a coronary event, and one person every minute will die from one.

The chance of developing coronary heart disease can be reduced by taking steps to prevent and control factors that put people at greater risk. Developed specifically for the American audience to educate people on common diseases and preventive care, BODY WORLDS Vital is a specially curated collection made up of real human body plastinates and a large arrangement of individual organs – including the heart – arterial configurations and translucent slices that give a complete picture of how the human body functions. Using multi-media installations as a backdrop, the exhibit shows the body in disease and distress by comparing healthy bodies to bodies that have succumbed to a host of illnesses and medical conditions.

Physician and Creative and Conceptual Designer of the exhibition, Dr. Angelina Whalley said, “I hope that this exhibition at The Tech Museum will continue to inspire visitors by showing the body’s potential and capacity for change. My husband Gunther von Hagens and I created BODY WORLDS to show that the body is so fragile and vulnerable, and yet so resilient and forgiving.”




BODY WORLDS Vital is the latest chapter in the HUMAN SAGA project - a series of curated museum blockbusters that began with exploration of the brain and neuroscience, cardiology and the heart, human development and longevity and aging. BODY WORLDSexhibitions have been hosted by more than 50 museums and venues in North America, Europe, and Asia – and seen by more than 32 million visitors worldwide.

“This exhibition is perfectly aligned with our mission to give visitors high-quality experiences that educate, inform, provoke thought and inspire action - all in the spirit of Silicon Valley," Peter Friess, president of The Tech Museum, said. "BODY WORLDS Vitalgives visitors greater insights into the complexity of their bodies. But, even more than that, the exhibition challenges visitors to take serious stock of their health, propel them toward fuller, fitter lifestyles and, ultimately, wellness."