Museum of Broken Relationships

Everyone at least once in their life goes through heartbreak. Different people cope with it differently; some wreck their lives while others see it as a new beginning. But a few people do something extraordinary and today we're looking at one such extraordinary innovation resulting from a breakup.

The story of the Museum of Broken Relationships at Ćirilometodska 2, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia; the brainchild of two star-crossed lovers, Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić.

The Idea

Dražen and Olinka were going through what many people go through. It was an amicable breakup, but they found it very hard to say good-bye. They wanted to keep alive some of the great memories they had. Olinka had written an essay titled The Museum of Broken Relationships which at the time was just a metaphor until Dražen convinced Olinka to convert the metaphor into a reality.

After their love affair ended, the estranged couple began collecting the relics of other failed relationships, mostly everyday items such as watches, shoes, shirts, etc. The idea was that the objects need to be presented in a very simple manner, with a plaque underneath explaining the person's story. It could be a few words or lines, or it could be something longer and more elaborate.

How It All Started

The museum had humble beginnings; the first exhibition was given in a shipping container in a museum garden in Zagreb in 2006. And in October 2010 the first Museum of Broken Relationships opened for business.

Over 7,000 objects, ranging from shades of dark humor to tragedy, have since been submitted from anonymous donors across the world. These include an axe that was used to chop all of an ex-boyfriend's furniture; a letter written by a 13-year-old boy fleeing Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina; and a jar of "love incense," simply labeled: "doesn't work."

There's a special sort of magic and anonymity to these items. They are mundane in themselves but the stories they tell are like windows into the souls of those strangers. The exhibitions are never the same because they always include local donations. For example, a project in Dunedin, New Zealand, in mid-2018 had lots of localized stories which people there could relate to.

What Next

In addition to the physical museum, registered visitors can become donors by uploading their images and documents through the Virtual Web Museum. Here, donors can decide if they want to allow other registered users to view their collections or not. They also provide a service called Confessional where visitors can store their objects, messages or their confessions in an intimate space.

So far, Olinka and Dražen have orchestrated temporary exhibitions in more than sixty different locations, including London, Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, and LA. In November 2018, a newly remodeled exhibition was unveiled at the museum in Zagreb.

They plan to expand even further to a few more countries shortly. It's truly incredible how a simple joke between ex-lovers turned into such a revelation and has truly become a symbol for our collective emotion of heartbreak.




Image Sources- 1. https://assets.atlasobscura.com/media/W1siZiIsInVwbG9hZHMvcGxhY2VfaW1hZ2VzLzZiMWJlOGI5ZDRhMzM1YTQ5ZGRhZGQzNTdiNTFmNjJiRFNDXzAyMTYuSlBHIl0sWyJwIiwidGh1bWIiLCJ4MzkwPiJdLFsicCIsImNvbnZlcnQiLCItcXVhbGl0eSA4MSAtYXV0by1vcmllbnQiXV0/DSC_0216.JPG
 2. https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/olinka-vistica-and-drazen-grubisic-attend-                                  the-museum-of-broken-on-picture-id537783154
 3. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Museum_of_Broken_Relationships_-_Ex-axe.jpg/170px-Museum_of_Broken_Relationships_-_Ex-axe.jpg 
4. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/99/d3/9d/99d39d41ea4182850c188a60fe35d21d.jpg
5. https://cdn.telanganatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/museum.jpg