Kochi: To commemorate World Liver Day, Aster Medcity has come up with an uncommon initiative to spread awareness on the subject of organ donation. In collaboration with the Mohan Foundation (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network), Aster Medcity has brought the award-winning exhibition “LIFE BEFORE ASHES” to Kochi. The exhibition will be held at the Lulu Mall from 19th to 22nd April 2018. This unique exhibition has re-creations of human organs with ashes of the deceased and mud from the graves, to convey the hard-hitting message, that what has now become ashes, could have been another person’s heart or kidney, if only the organs had been donated!
Dr. “Harish Pillai, CEO Aster Hospitals & Clinics India said, ‘This World Liver Day, we decided to do something very different to emphasize the importance of how donating a liver or another organ can save a life. We hope that the Life before Ashes’ exhibition helps to spread this simple but critical message in a poignant, yet hard-hitting way. The exhibits which are organs made from what has now become ashes make a very powerful impression on the people, impressing on their mind that it could have been another person’s heart or kidney, if only the organs were donated.’
The Foundation has curated a set of art installations of human organs made from a mix of real human ashes and mud from graves. This conveys the message that while people are ready to allow their organs to be burnt and wasted, they aren’t willing to let their organs give a new life to someone. The exhibits force people to think about the need of organ donation. People will also be able to sign up as potential organ donors at the exhibition venue.
Dr Sunil Shroff, Founder and Managing Trustee at MOHAN Foundation added, ‘Initiatives like the ‘Life Before Ashes’ exhibition help to emphasize on the merits of organ donation. It also aids in battling the social stigma attached to organ donation in India. We are confident that these initiatives will expand the acceptance of the organ donation program, so that more and more people sign up to be organ donors.”
The art exhibits featuring a human heart, liver, kidney and eyeball are coming to Kochi after being displayed in certain key locations in Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur. Furthermore, MOHAN Foundation plans to take the installations across various cities in India, including Chennai, Nagpur, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, etc., as well as to the UK in the future.
