What Is the Museum of Broken Relationships?

Museums collect all kinds of art and artifacts -- this one collects pieces of broken hearts. Learn about some of the items and stories held in the Museum of Broken Relationships in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,
Lauren Vogel bomb here. If a relationship is like a
shark that must constantly move forward or die, then what
the Museum of Broken Relationships has on its hands is
a lot of dead sharks and are shards because romantic

(00:22):
or not, when any cherished relationship hits the skids, it
can blow your heart to Smithereens with heart shards in
mind and an eye toward healing and purposeful change, the
Museum of Broken Relationships is an innovative resource for helping
people seek solace, let go, and move on. Curated from
once valued possessions that X is of every ilk can't

(00:44):
stand to keep around anymore, yet can't bear to throw away,
the museum provides a space to showcase the flotsam of
flouted vows and forsaken promises and the sad souvenirs of subterfuge.
Anonymous and sometimes gut wrenching personal stories presented alongside their
related objects, provide context i viewing these ordinary items, like
say a pair of converse sneakers, a latch key, or

(01:07):
a wisp of hair, with universal meaning. Raw and unedited
personal artifacts selected from hundreds of warehoused and ever incoming
donations from love lorn people around the world. Comprised the
installations at the award winning Avant Garde Museum located in Zagreb, Croatia,
plus in an international traveling exhibition, and at the museum

(01:27):
in Los Angeles, California, which, while they scout a new
brick and mortar location, is alive and well online. A
poignant smattering of samples includes a jar of spicy Amish
pickles purchased by a young woman for her first love.
He stopped returning her texts within the span of their
two months together, and she never had a chance to

(01:47):
give him the pickles. Peter Pan plush toy bought by
a twenty five year old man to remind himself to
keep the boy inside alive. Now fifty, His placard caption reads,
the boy is lost to me. An ex wife's non
traditional whispy silk wedding dress crammed into no kidding, a
pickle jar after her husband got the seven year itch

(02:10):
and split. A magnifying glass left by a woman as
a reminder to a self absorbed lover that she had
always felt small, and a small bottle filled with tears,
be they ordinary, extraordinary, or even downright bizarre, the objects
alone are just bloodless chatch keys without the stories that
bring them to life. The museum f a Q section

(02:33):
invites contributors to write their personal confessions to be frank, withdrawn, furious, imaginative, witty,
or sad. Your story creates the museum display. They say,
your story is your stage. Anyone with strong feelings about
t m I etiquette may find the museum's theme to
be more pure exhibitionism than art. Conversely, reality show loving

(02:55):
boyers may see it as another delicious way to access
misery on demand. For as long as humans have had
sad hearts, there has been love lost and unrequited, And
for as long as there has been love, there's been
heartbreak and pain. But perhaps the real takeaway from seeing
brokenness on display is to note that it's in the
liminal space between love and loss that we find our

(03:16):
shared humanity and discover our capacity for empathy. Today's episode
was written by Carrie Tato and produced by Tyler Clang.
For more on this and lots of other poignant topics,
visit our home planet, how Stuff Works dot com