CROATIA: Museum returns to Croatia to continue preserving the memories of love lost
Record ID:
741500
CROATIA: Museum returns to Croatia to continue preserving the memories of love lost
- Title: CROATIA: Museum returns to Croatia to continue preserving the memories of love lost
- Date: 14th October 2010
- Summary: ZAGREB, CROATIA (OCTOBER 7, 2010) (REUTERS) ST. MARK'S CHURCH AT END OF STREET THREE WOMEN TAKING PICTURES OF MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS BANNER READING: ''MUSEUM OF BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS'' ON BUILDING FAKE BREASTS HANGING ON WALL TAG NEXT TO FAKE BREASTS READING: "FAKE BREASTS, 3 YEARS, BELGRADE, SERBIA. SO, AFTER THREE YEARS TOGETHER, MY HUSBAND BROUGHT FAKE, SCULPTED FEMALE BREASTS WHICH WERE, OF COURSE, LARGER THAN MINE AND THAT WAS THE TIME OF OUR BIGGEST RELATIONSHIP CRISIS... HE MADE ME WEAR THEM DURING SEX BECAUSE THEY TURNED HIM ON. I WAS DISAPPOINTED AND BECAUSE OF THOSE SCULPTED, FAKE BREASTS I LEFT HIM FOR GOOD." POSTER SHOWING MODEL WEARING G-STRING MADE OF SWEETS, READING: ''CANDY G-STRING SWEET AND SEXY'' (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) MUSEUM FOUNDER, OLINKA VISTICA, SAYING: "Shortly after we started this project four years ago we warmed to the idea of having a permanent collection because we got so much feedback from around the world, people asking us where was this museum, where could they see the these items, how much were tickets. Ever since then we were trying to find the right location and finally last year we got an opportunity to rent this space which is in this beautiful, touristy part of Zagreb. And the location really goes well with our exhibition which is a bit bizarre and not mainstream and is a really nice antidote to the rest of the things you can find here. So we got into gear, and here it is.'' UNDER-KNEE PROSTHESIS TAG READING: "AN UNDER-KNEE PROTHESIS, SPRING 1992, ZAGREB, CROATIA. IN A ZAGREB HOSPITAL I MET A BEAUTIFUL, YOUNG AND AMBITIOUS SOCIAL WORKER FORM THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE. LOVE WAS BORN WHEN SHE HELPED ME GET CERTAIN MATERIALS WHICH I NEEDED FOR MY UNDER-KNEE PROSTHESIS, AS A WAR INVALID. THE PROSTHESIS ENDURED LONGER THAN OUR LOVE. IT WAS MADE FROM STURDIER MATERIAL!" WOODEN MODEL OF SAILING SHIP BROKEN GLASS WITH LOVE LETTER, TAG NEXT TO IT READING: "SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA. THIS IS A LOVE LETTER WRITTEN TO THE PASSION OF MY LIFE (SO FAR) TOWARDS THE END OF OUR RELATIONSHIP, TEN YEARS AGO. WE WERE IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, AND I'M BETTER AT WRITING THEN TELEPHONING WHEN IT COMES TO THESE MATTERS (PLUS THE COST OF INTERNATIONAL CALLS WAS AT THAT TIME PRETTY STEEP). I SENT EN E-MAIL, A FAIRLY NEW MODE OF COMMUNICATION IN OUR RELATIONSHIP AT THE POINT - TO ASK WHAT ADDRESS TO SEND IT TO. HE BROKE UP WITH ME IN A REPLY E-MAIL. I THOUGHT THAT WAS LAME. I DELETED HIS E-MAIL EVENTUALLY, BUT SAVED THE LETTER I HAD WRITTEN. SINCE IT WAS A SORT OF RELIC (AN ACTUAL HAND-WRITTEN LETTER), I GLUED IT TO AN OLD MIRROR I WAS GETTING RID OF AND SHATTERED IT..." WOMAN LOOKING AT EXHIBITION, EXHIBITION CO-FOUNDER DRAZEN GRUBISC WAKING BEHIND HER (SOUNDBITE) (Croatian) EXHIBITION CO-FOUNDER, DRAZEN GRUBISC, SAYING: ''There are all sorts of stories related to the the items which were donated. For example we had this guy who came to the opening of the exhibition in Sarajevo, he was working as journalist there and heard about the exhibition and he came to see what it was about. He walked in happily and two minutes later he ran out really pale. The reason was the main item that was right opposite the main entrance, which was a bicycle on the wall, which was his present to his ex-girlfriend. She had donated the bicycle to the exhibition without letting him know and wrote the whole story about their break-up. Of course it was an anonymous story, but he immediately recognised what that story was about." BICYCLE THE SARAJEVO JOURNALIST GAVE HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND AS A PRESENT ON SHOW TAG READING: "A BICYCLE, 1990-2001, ZAGREB, CROATIA. THIS IS AN EXHIBIT FROM A PAST-LIFE RELATIONSHIP. ONE OF THE THINGS I NEVER TOOK WITH ME. (I HOPE THE REST ENDED UP IN CARITAS, LIKE I ASKED.) THE PERSON I WAS WITH AFTER THIS RELATIONSHIP CONSIDERED MY WISH INCREDIBLY STUPID, WENT TO MY EX'S AND TOOK THE BIKE BACK. WHEN I ENDED THIS OTHER RELATIONSHIP, I LEFT ON A SCORCHING SUMMER DAY, I THOUGHT THAT GOING ON FOOT OR TAKING A TRAM WOULD BE UNBELIEVABLY DUMB. SO I GOT ON THE BIKE.... ANYWAY, IT'S GREAT TO HAVE A MEANS OF TRANSPORT OUT OF A RELATIONSHIP."
- Embargoed: 29th October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Croatia
- Country: Croatia
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
- Reuters ID: LVAC3X8FAD16EU0IJ3BAASTFYPLT
- Story Text: After clocking up more than 180,000 visitors during a tour of places as near as Belgrade and Skopje and as far away as Cape Town, Manila and San Francisco, the Museum of Broken Relationships has returned to establish a permanent collection in the Croatian capital. Its new home is in the beautifully preserved baroque Kulmer Palace in Zagreb's historical Upper Town.
The location celebrates splendour and continuity, so at first it seems an odd choice for a museum devoted to ruins.
The list of exhibits is as bizarre as it is heartbreaking. One woman donated the fake breasts her husband made her wear during sex, upsetting her so much she eventually left him. Another exhibit is a pair of knickers made of sweets, looking forlorn removed from their natural habitat.
The museum is the brainchild of artists Olinka Vistica and Drazen Grubisc who decided to exhibit the remains of their own romance which broke up in 2006.
"Shortly after we started this project four years ago we warmed to the idea of having a permanent collection because we got so much feedback from around the world, people asking us where was this museum, where could they see the these items, how much were tickets, " Vistica said.
All the objects were donated, mostly from Croatia and around Europe, others were picked up during the museum's tour.
Each of the objects, many of them rather commonplace, were once full of meaning for someone, and tell as much about human nature as about the social context in which the relationship thrived and then fizzled out.
A veteran of Croatia's 1991-95 war donated his artificial leg as a tribute to the romance he shared with a social worker who initially helped him get it, before the couple drifted apart.
Others donated objects made or gifted by former lovers, as well as objects they themselves brought into the relationship; trinkets, love letters, clothes.
The idea is that giving these memory-filled objects to the museum for safe keeping helps the brokenhearted get over a failed romance, share with others and preserve their scarred emotional history - and hopefully achieve closure.
''There are all sorts of stories related to the the items which were donated. For example we had this guy who came to the opening of the exhibition in Sarajevo, he was working as journalist there and heard about the exhibition and he came to see what it was about. He walked in happily and two minutes later he ran out really pale. The reason was the main item that was right opposite the main entrance, which was a bicycle on the wall, which was his present to his ex-girlfriend. She had donated the bicycle to the exhibition without letting him know and wrote the whole story about their break-up. Of course it was an anonymous story, but he immediately recognised what that story was about, Exhibition Co-Founder Drazen Grubisc said.
The artists also have a website where the broken-hearted can store SMS messages, photos and e-mails and, if they choose, share them with the rest of the world. They are keen to expand the collection with stories from around the world, so for the price of a parcel to Zagreb, your broken heart can be mended and displayed, as a wistful memory or a bitter cautionary tale. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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