From Cincinnati Enquirer: Museum dodges dialogue on ‘Bodies’
I called five members of the Museum Center’s advisory panel to ask: If you had known all this, would you still have approved this exhibit?
Only two responded. Rabbi Irv Wise said he did not attend any of the meetings.
Hamilton County Coroner O’dell Owens replied, “More has come out that was not told to us.” He said the exhibit had been in many cities, so nobody questioned the bodies. “We weren’t given clear enough information. The Museum Center assured us they had done the due diligence.”
What he’s heard since “casts doubt on that, but given the information we had at the time, we made the right call.”
The Cincinnati Museum Center was never interested in having the advisory panel be anything more than a rubber stamp of acceptance for the Bodies the Exhibition.
I spoke to a member of the advisory panel, Rev. Calvin Harper shortly before the exhibit opened. He told me that he was never told about issues regarding the origins of the bodies or the controversial nature of the exhibit. There was no discussion, just a presentation.
If the Cincinnati Museum Center was truly interested in creating a working advisory panel to advise on an exhibit as controversial as this, wouldn’t you think that they would have invited more people with differing viewpoints so they could see the complete picture?
And why weren’t any members of the Chinese community on this advisory panel? It’s like having a discussion about the pros and cons of slavery without inviting any African-Americans.
The Cincinnati Museum Center has no desire for the truth and is looking for every excuse to continue to profit from this exhibit.
