Museum of Broken Relationships is a hybrid virtual and physical space sharing the stories of heartbreak “and symbolic possessions” of everyone.
© Zagreb Display by Alan Vajdic
The museum started as a creative art project by Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić in 2006; while its founding permanent collection is in Zagreb, it is growing with the experiences of thousands of people. The museum is a constantly expanding collection of objects, each representing a former romantic connection and each accompanying a unique, albeit anonymous, account of its creator. In contrast to “destructive” self-help manuals for getting over loss and grief, the museum provides an opportunity to overcome an emotional crisis through creativity by adding to its global collection.
Most of the museum is a virtual experience with 2950 (at the time of writing) objects representing the core theme, even having a global map of breakup pins! The objects are either donations by people inspired by the project or calls for contributions through several local exhibitions worldwide. The collection’s emphasis is not on the object but rather on the accompanying story. These showcase a wide variety of emotional turmoil with all kinds of relationships (the good, the bad and the ugly) being present, making the project relatable to all.
© Zagreb Display by Sanja Bistricic
Our take
What we love about the Museum of Broken Relationships, except its fantastic hybrid structure, is that it brings a contemporary approach to heritage, both tangible (objects) and intangible (stories). The museum is universally relevant and is, in effect, documentary heritage, carrying information about an integral part of the human experience, love, relationships and their end.
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Museum of Broken Relationships
