What remains when a relationship comes to an end?
Museum of Broken Relationships
23.1. – 11.4.27
This unique museum in Zagreb, Croatia, collects and displays objects from failed relationships in exhibitions around the world. At each stop, the collection is expanded through donations from local people.
The focus is on personal items that have become mementoes following the end of a relationship. The exhibition tells the stories behind these objects – some humorous, others tragic. They all bear witness to the human quest for connection.
These stories build trust and unite people through the shared experience of letting go: grief and hope, vulnerability and forgiveness are all part of being human.
From 22 January to 11 April 2027, the Museum of Broken Relationships will be on display in the historic atrium of the LWL Museum of Art and Culture.
Call for Donation
Donate your memento:
From Friday (9 October), the museum is inviting visitors to contribute their own objects and stories about failed relationships to the exhibition. For just under four weeks (until 15 November), visitors can hand in their mementos at the LWL Museum and become part of the exhibition.
Items already donated
The history of the museum
Das Museum of Broken Relationships
The idea for the Museum of Broken Relationships came about when the relationship between the two founders, Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić, broke down in 2006. As they were unable to keep a pet, they had a soft toy rabbit. Whenever one of them went on a trip alone, they would take the soft toy rabbit with them and take photos of it. After their break-up, when they could no longer bear the sight of the rabbit but didn’t want to throw it away either, the idea for the museum was born: a special place where it would be kept safe, but where the painful memory would no longer be part of everyday life.
Today, thousands of people have contributed to the museum’s collection with their objects and stories, and it continues to grow. In 2010, the project won the EMYA Kenneth Hudson Award for the most innovative and daring museum project in Europe. The permanent exhibition is located in Zagreb, Croatia.
