“OUR BODY” LOSES APPEAL CASE

The organizers of “Our Body”—an exhibition featuring plasticized human bodies and body parts from China—have failed in their bid to reverse a suspension ordered by a Paris court last week. As Agence France-Presse and Le Monde report, the Paris court of appeals heard the case about the controversial show, which was organized by Encore Events. While the first judge questioned the decency of the exhibition, the appeals-court judge Jean-Claude Magendie focused on the doubtful origin of the bodies. While some French human rights organizations claimed that the bodies are the corpses of executed Chinese prisoners, Encore Events argued that the Hong Kong owner of the exhibition has complied with Chinese donation laws. But the judge was not convinced. The official ruling: “The company Encore Events does not bring back the proof, which was incumbent upon it to do, about the licit and non-fraudulent origin of the disputed bodies and the existence of authorized consent.” The suspension of an exhibition is new not only in France but also for the exhibition, which has attracted thirty million visitors around the world and ran without legal troubles in both Lyon and Marseille.