By Maria-Nefeli Andredaki,
I was lucky enough to spend my Easter break in Zagreb, Croatia, among a group of great friends. We stayed at the center of the capital, which allowed us to reach everything quite easily. On the second day of being there, we had the pleasure of visiting the so-called Museum of Broken Relationships, which prompted many tears and emotional discussions.
The museum is situated near the city’s funicular, comfortably placed in the building of an old, small palace, and is created and owned by a pair of former lovers. Olinka and Drazen were a couple that had collected multiple items in their shared household, as partners do when they are together for a long time. When the time came for the relationship to end, the pair had to make the tough decision of dividing their possessions. Instead of arguing over the ownership of the most sentimental symbols of their relationship, the pair came up with the following idea; what if there was a place where ex-lovers can donate some of their items, some proof of a love that used to exist at a point in time?
This is how the impressive collection of the museum’s 4.000+ objects and stories came to be; donors from all over the world sent (and keep sending till this day) tokens of their former loves anonymously, along with their story to accompany the display.
However, before you assume anything, the Museum of Broken Relationships is not exclusively about romance. As humans, we can form broken, complex bonds with anything; ourselves, our bodies, our families, our countries and surroundings, etc. One great example is that of a person whose item donation was a pizza box. The person had been recently diagnosed with gluten intolerance and was not able to enjoy their favorite food any longer, thus, signifying their own broken relationship with something they once loved and could not keep in their lives anymore.
Another example of a non-romantic broken relationship is that of a woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer and was forced to remove her breast, in order to survive. The woman had donated her two favorite bras, the ones that used to make her feel confident and desirable. She had no use for them anymore and, by relinquishing them to the museum, she was able to start her self-loving journey afresh.
Not uncommon are the stories containing emotional and physical abuse, cheating, as well as extreme age gaps (including pedophilia). Because these relationship stories are raw and unedited, they contain the personal experiences of people who might excuse certain behaviors, depending on their own life experiences, upbringing, etc. All of this to say, if you are sensitive to such topics, it is better if you research beforehand and decide if such a place would be appropriate for you. Feel free to get information from the museum staff as well, all of whom speak excellent English!
What makes this museum special and memorable to me is how the collection manages to capture the essence of being human. I saw myself in multiple stories, I saw my friends in others, and I saw what could have been my life were my circumstances or even birthplace different. Art has the power to move and inspire us, to make us feel seen and accepted but, let me tell you, I have never felt more moved or seen than I did in that specific museum. The overall message I took from this visit while I was boarding my flight back home was this; love may not be endless, but that will never take away from its value. Maybe it is the “broken” relationships that make us appreciate the “unbroken” ones.
