Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi
Speaker 1: Brainstuff Lauren Vogelbaum here with a classic brain Stuff episode
Speaker 1: with shutdowns to help protect against the spread of COVID nineteen.
Speaker 1: Lots of museums have gone online only, and that includes
Speaker 1: one outpost of the subject of today's episode, The Museum
Speaker 1: of Broken Relationships. Hey, brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum Here. If
Speaker 1: a relationship is like a shark that must constantly move
Speaker 1: forward or die, then what the Museum of Broken Relationships
Speaker 1: has on its hands is a lot of dead sharks
Speaker 1: and are shards because romantic or not, when any cherished
Speaker 1: relationship hits the skids, it can blow your heart to
Speaker 1: Smithereens with heart shards in mind and an eye toward
Speaker 1: healing and purposeful change, the Museum of Broken Relationships is
Speaker 1: an innovative resource for helping people seek solace, let go,
Speaker 1: and move on. Curated from once valued possessions that xs
Speaker 1: of every ilk can't stand to keep around anymore, yet
Speaker 1: can't bear to throw away, the museum provides a space
Speaker 1: to showcase the flotsam of flouted vows and forsaken promises
Speaker 1: and the sad souvenirs of subterfuge. Anonymous and sometimes gut
Speaker 1: wrenching personal stories presented alongside their related objects provide context
Speaker 1: im viewing these ordinary items, like say, a pair of
Speaker 1: converse sneakers, a latch key, or a wisp of hair
Speaker 1: with universal meaning. Raw and unedited personal artifacts selected from
Speaker 1: hundreds of warehoused and ever incoming donations from love lorn
Speaker 1: people around the world comprise the installations at the award
Speaker 1: winning avant Garde Museum located in Zagreb, Croatia, plus in
Speaker 1: an international traveling exhibition, and at the museum in Los Angeles, California, which,
Speaker 1: while they scout a new brick and mortar location, is
Speaker 1: alive and well online. A poignant smattering of samples includes
Speaker 1: a jar of spicy Amish pickles purchase by a young
Speaker 1: woman for her first love. He stopped returning her texts
Speaker 1: within the span of their two months together, and she
Speaker 1: never had a chance to give him the pickles. A
Speaker 1: Peter Pan plush toy bought by a twenty five year
Speaker 1: old man to remind himself to keep the boy inside
Speaker 1: alive now fifty, His placard caption reads, the boy is
Speaker 1: lost to me. An ex wife's non traditional whispy silk
Speaker 1: wedding dress crammed into no kidding, a pickle jar after
Speaker 1: her husband got the seven year itch and split, a
Speaker 1: magnifying glass left by a woman as a reminder to
Speaker 1: a self absorbed lover that she had always felt small,
Speaker 1: and a small bottle filled with tears. Be they ordinary, extraordinary,
Speaker 1: or even downright bazaar, the objects alone are just bloodless
Speaker 1: chatch keys without the stories that bring them to life.
Speaker 1: The museum f a Q section invites contributors to write
Speaker 1: their personal confessions to be frank, withdrawn, furious, imaginative, witty,
Speaker 1: or sad. Your story creates the museum display. They say,
Speaker 1: your story is your stage. Anyone with strong feelings about
Speaker 1: t m I etiquette may find the museum's theme to
Speaker 1: be more pure exhibitionism than art. Conversely, reality show loving
Speaker 1: bowyers may see it as another delicious way to access
Speaker 1: misery on demand. For as long as humans have had
Speaker 1: sad hearts, there has been love lost and unrequited, And
Speaker 1: for as long as there's been love, there's been heartbreak
Speaker 1: and pain. But perhaps the real takeaway from seeing brokenness
Speaker 1: on display is to note that it's in the liminal
Speaker 1: space between love and loss that we find our shared
Speaker 1: humanity and discover our capacity for empathy. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article Museum of Broken Relationships Houses Heartache
Speaker 1: on House to Works dot com, written by Carrie Tatrow.
Speaker 1: If you don't happen to be in Croatia to visit
Speaker 1: the museum in person, go to broken Ships dot com
Speaker 1: to see some of its exhibits. Brain Stuff is production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot
Speaker 1: com and is produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts
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