A conversation dissecting the intimate relationship between anatomy and performance, spectacle and display.

Andrew Cunningham will trace the history of anatomy theatres and examine the public anatomy lessons of Renaissance Italy.

Gianna Bouchard will focus on an examination of Gunter von Hagens’ controversial Bodyworlds exhibition, where ‘plastinated’ corpses are displayed in a range of poses and activities. By employing elements of the theatrical in the show, does von Hagens compromise any claims to scientific objectivity and authenticity in the anatomical specimens?

Simon Chaplin will investigate the importance of narratives in the anatomical museum of the 18th-century surgeon John Hunter. From travelogues and tales of discovery, to fables, biographies and gothic fantasies, Simon will show how the museum and the body parts it contained appealed to the imagination of literate - and literary - spectators.

Speakers

Gianna Bouchard, Principal Lecturer in Drama at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge

Simon Chaplin, Head of the Wellcome Library

Andrew Cunningham, Senior Research Fellow in History of Medicine, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge

Chair

Helen Nicholson, Professor of Theatre and Performance at Royal Holloway

This event is fully booked. Spaces may become available on the day of the event. You can register for the waiting list 90 minutes before the start of the event in Wellcome Collection.

Part of Clod Ensemble’s Anatomy Season.

The Anatomy Season is a series of conversations, performances and workshops, inspired by the theme of anatomy featuring brilliant artists, anatomists, medics and thinkers.

Supported by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award.