After a tumultuous break up, it is easy to create a shrine to the relationship that once was. Los Angeles now has a whole museum set up to evoke the emotions and realities of heartbreak through the leftover relics of romance, called the Museum of Broken Relationships.
Museum director Alexis Hyde and her staff collected over 250 donated artifacts from ended relationships and the stories behind them. While the museum itself might appear like a home decorator gone wild, each item represents a different break up. It is as much a testament to being let go romantically as our fear of letting things go. All donations are presented anonymously, though Hyde tells Vice that giving up these ruins of a relationship can be cathartic:
“I’ve had people bring objects in person, and as they handed it to me have cried or been hesitant. I always ask, ‘Are you sure?’ And I see the relief that washes over them. They’re happy to have let go of it, but it was a fight.”
The original museum is set up in Zagreb, Croatia, designed by artists Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić in 2006. They built the museum based on the end of their four year relationship, filling the museum with the tokens of their former coupledom. The museum also features donated pieces from others with their own stories, highlighting the universality of the experience.
The LA museum opened on June 4th, 2016, though you can still donate artifact of old relationships through contacting them online. Tickets cost $18 for a one hour slot, $15 for students, online. If you can’t make it to LA, the museum has a Tumblr to read and share stories and videos for a similar effect.
This article was written by Sara Roncero-Menendez from PSFK and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
