The Breakup Museum

The Breakup Museum

            The Breakup Museum is a collection of ordinary objects from Slovenia, Taipei, Colorado, and Manila. All the items in this museum were donated by strangers. Each of these items is accompanied by a story that explained the item and how it was acquired. The act of donating these items to this museum permits permanence and surrender at once. Some of the donations to the museums were from people who could not stand to have the item, but also could not throw it away. Donating to the museum was a good choice for them to put their items on a pedestal.

The story of how the museum was founded is very strange. The Museum itself began after a breakup of the founders. The founders, Drazen Grubisic and Olinka Vistica, broke up in 2003. In the process of dividing possessions, the thought of an exhibit made up of all the detritus from broken relationships like their own came up. They created the exhibition three years later and the first exhibit in that museum was reclaimed from their home. However, the idea of setting up the museum was a tough one. It was hard getting a space in art festival or obtaining artifacts for the first time. They got a permanent exhibition space after 4 years. However, this one was in a very bad condition and they had to renovate it.

Some of the artifacts present in the museum include; a Clamshell, a shopping list, a copy of Walden by David Thoreau, an envelope with a single human hair, four black dresses, Paisley shirt, steel guitar slide, and a bottle of crystal Pepsi. All these objects honor the relationship between the parties involved before parting ways.