Museum of Broken Relationships

Museum of Broken Relationships A museum dedicated to broken hearts has been founded in Croatia. Authors of the concept Olinka Vištica and Drazen Grubišić decided to set up the museum after consoling friends over their failed romances.
The Museum of Broken Relationships is an art concept which proceeds from the assumption that objects possess integrated fields - ‘holograms’ of memories and emotions - and intends with its layout to create a space of ‘secure memory’ or ‘protected remembrance’ in order to preserve the material and nonmaterial heritage of broken relationships. Unlike the ‘destructive’ self-help instructions for recovery from failed loves, the Museum offers every individual the chance to overcome the emotional collapse through creation - by contributing to the Museum's collection. The individual gets rid of ‘controversial objects’, triggers of momentarily ‘undesirable’ emotions, by turning them into museum exhibits, and thereby participating in the creation of a preserved collective emotional history.
The museum has everything from romantic and touching letters to different gifts given to lovers like teddy bears and photos, but also such unusual examples as leg prosthesis donated by a war veteran who fell in love with his physiotherapist or a gall stone. Every single object on display is anonymous, and has a description / story related to the relationship that was behind. First contributions to this unusual museum collection came from Zagreb, Split, Ljubljana, Maribor, Sarajevo, Skopje, Pula, Belgrade….cities that had once, not so long ago, been in the same country which painfully fell apart in the 90s. They came from “a broken territory” often witnessing how a “break-up” of a country can influence even the most intimate part of our lives. They tell us about “small” dramas happening in the shadow of “big” historical events.

After the success of this first display this unique museum is touring the world.

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Contact: info@brokednships.com

More about the concept (downloadable pdf)