Museum of Broken Relationships

Objects from failed love affairs, donated by strangers from around the world

This is probably the most original museum in Europe. Each exhibit is an everyday object — a toaster, a wedding dress, a stuffed animal, an axe — accompanied by a label from its anonymous donor explaining the relationship it once stood for, and how that relationship ended. The accumulated effect is more moving than you expect: the small accidental cruelties and absurdities of romantic life, made universal.

The collection is permanent but constantly refreshed with new donations from around the world. The building is on Ćirilometodska Street in the Upper Town, a short walk from St Mark's Square. Allow about an hour; the café next door serves good coffee and a famously dark sense of humour in chocolate form. Combine with the nearby Naïve Art Museum.

things to do museum gornji grad
A story
The museum began in 2006 as a touring art project by two Zagreb artists, Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić, who had just ended a relationship and could not decide what to do with the objects they had accumulated together. They started inviting other people to send in theirs. The permanent home opened in 2010 and has since hosted touring versions in more than fifty countries.

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