Your Loss, Our Gain — The Museum of Broken Relationships

We all know how it feels to incur the pain of a broken heart—and perhaps artists know the feeling best, with their stereotypical hypersensitivity to emotion. (And, perhaps not—Van Gogh can remain the iconic standout in this regard, as far as I’m concerned.) But, could the leftovers from our blundered breakups be the fodder for a museum exhibition? Of course!

The Museum of Broken Relationships in Croatia has collected 100 remnants from countless exes and failed relationships. Currently the museum exhibition is traveling, and has stopped in at Tristan Bates Theatre in London until September 4, 2011.

More interesting than this sort-of shopping mall of shattered dreams, is the fact that each of these respective “dumpees” or “dumpers” kept these predominately useless, even though sentimental, objects. Perhaps it’s more common to clutch one last thing from an ex-lover, than to toss that item to the wind. Sure. If an ex gifted a car, I suppose one wouldn’t flippantly hand over the keys.

And, perhaps that’s what this exhibition points to with the most intrigue: the frequency with which exes do salvage something—however insignificant—from the wreckage of a failed relationship.

Think about it: do you have anything from your ex, an old t-shirt, photograph, or trinket? If yes, you can donate to the museum here.