An iron used for a wedding suit, a rear-view mirror
broken in a jealous fit and a lower leg prosthesis -- at first it's
hard to find any link between the items on display at a new museum
in Croatia.
But every exhibit in the Museum of Broken Relationships has one
thing in common -- it tells the story of a lost love.
These material remnants of failed romances down the years are
sometimes mundane, sometimes bizarre, sometimes funny, sad or even
kinky.
The prosthesis is laid out on a white pillar, tastefully lit. It
belonged to a Croat war invalid who had an affair with a social
worker.
"The prosthesis lasted longer than our love. It was made of
sturdier material," says the caption.
Others exhibits include a tool used to axe an ex-girlfriend's
furniture, a red wig from New York and garterbelts from
Sarajevo.
"I never put them on. The relationship might have lasted longer
if I did," laments the donor.
The idea for the museum came five years ago when artists Olinka
Vistica and Drazen Grubisic, who broke up after four years
together, discussed how to preserve the heritage of a broken
emotional relationship.
"Inspired by our own situation we discussed the idea that
everything that was nice once and has changed should not be
destroyed but rather preserved in a certain way," Vistica said.
"So in 2006 we launched the project, calling it the Museum of
Broken Relationships, in which people could kind of store their
feelings.
"The concept is that people have a sort of cathartic experience,
getting rid of the burden of a failed relationship by donating
items from their personal stories."
Although some may baulk at revealing such personal details,
Grubisic believes the main motive of donors, who remain anonymous,
is to symbolically close a chapter in their life.
"All major events in our lives, like weddings or funerals, are
accompanied with a sort of a ritual while only in break-ups is one
alone.
"This in a way provides a kind of a ritual. Through a donation
to the museum an object changes its context and becomes something
else," the 41-year-old explained.
The newly-opened exhibition in Zagreb has provoked lively
interest in both Croatia and abroad.
Over the past four years, it has toured around 20 locations in
Europe, North A merica, Asia and Africa.
"The original project actually outgrew us so as soon as a
suitable location was found we moved to open it as a permanent
exhibition," Vistica says.
Exhibits are displayed in rooms with themes such as "Rage and
Fury" and "Whims of Desire."
Each is accompanied with a caption giving the length of the
relationship, place of origin and donor's explanation.
Other exhibits include the prayers said by a Filipino girl for
her fiance after he was fatally injured in a car crash and a love
letter written by a 13-year-old boy fleeing the Bosnian capital
Sarajevo at the start of the 1990s war.
Donors are mostly women, according to Vistica and Grubisic,
except in Turkey where to their surprise most came from men.
At the museum's website www.brokenships.com one can make a
virtual donation, by sending an e-mail, a picture or an SMS text
message, but Grubisic says that for the time being people seem to
prefer to donate the actual objects.
"It is a great concept. I like it since it puts in focus human
stories in the form of an artistic exhibition. A true story that
becomes and art," visitor Domagoj Blazevic, 31, told AFP while
touring the museum.
"It is at the same time funny and poetic, but I can also feel a
painful tone," added singer Ivanka Mazurkijevic.