The Exhibits At The Museum Of Broken Relationships Will Break Your Heart

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The Exhibits At The Museum Of Broken Relationships Will Break Your Heart

FAENA

There seems to be a museum for everything these days, and that includes one for the feeling of heartbreak.

The Museum of Broken Relationships was established in Zagreb, Croatia in 2010, and is dedicated to failed romantic relationships.

The museum was created by Olinka Vištica, a film producer, and Dražen Grubišić, a sculptor, who had recently ended their four year relationship. The pair joked they should donate their personal items that they associate with one another. It originally began as a travelling collection of memorabilia donated by former lovers, who wished to erase the reminders of their failed relationships.

A second Museum of Broken Relationships was built on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles in 2016, and offers the public with the same cathartic release.

When Amber Clisura got divorced, she rid her house of all reminders of her ex-husband, with the exception of one treasured item: a polished steel barbecue smoker her former partner had made for her from an old, four-legged oil drum.

"It sat there on the patio and rusted and rusted, and it became a sad symbol of the relationship," Clisura told The Associated Press.

When Clisura heard the Museum Of Broken Relationships was asking for submissions, she finally decided to part with her cherished item. Despite her decision, it was an emotional moment for her.

"A woman met me downstairs, and as I was handing it over, I burst into tears," Clisura said. "It felt like a weight was lifted."

The museum displays each item accompanied by a time span of the relationship, and short description of why it contains sentimental value. Some pieces in the museum include an ax, handcuffs, a glass horse, and a Peter Pan plush toy.

The museum is divided into three sections: the Material Remains Layout, where the tangible items are showcased, the Virtual Web Museum, where registered visitors can upload their memorabilia to the site's database, and the Confessional, which is an interactive segment, where participants can store their objects or messages, or record their confessions in a secluded space.

"It's cathartic the way a good, sad movie is cathartic," she said. "On some level, you know this person's moving on, and they've survived," director Alexis Hyde said, the museum's director.

What would you donate to the Museum Of Broken Relationships?

Maya has been working at Shared for a year. She just begrudgingly spent $200 on a gym membership. Contact her at maya@shared.com