The touring exhibition of donated personal belongings from past romantic liaisons finds its place at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden this month...
Who? Museum of Broken Relationships.
What? The touring exhibition of donated personal belongings from past romantic liaisons finds its place at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden this month. Amassing an incredibly diverse collection exhibits range from comical (the caption on a suspender belt, purchased in Sarajevo in 2003, reads: "I never put them on. The relationship might have lasted longer if I had") to the more serious (A Wedding Dress, 1994-1997, Berlin, Germany and Divorce Day Mad Dwarf, 20 years, Ljubjiana, Slovenia: “…At that moment it flew over to the windscreen of the new car, rebounded and landed on the asphalt surface. It was a long loop, drawing an arc of time – and this short long arc defined the end of love”). Visitors are invited to donate their own personal items, whether for sheer exhibitionism, therapeutic relief or simple curiosity, acting as a sort of ritual, a solemn ceremony. For the London showcase, gallery owner Tristan Bates has also been collecting local artifacts and stories of heartbreak and commissioned artists, theatres-makers and performers to create work responding to the collection.
Why? Anyone who has ever ended a relationship or suffered from a broken heart will be able to relate to this collection of expected and extreme artifacts. Whilst each exhibit is often coloured by personal experience, local culture and history, overall they form universal patterns and comfort. Whether or not you wish to participate by giving in your own belongings, in the words of Roland Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse: "Every passion, ultimately, has its spectator... (there is) no amorous oblation without a final theater."
The Museum of Broken Relationships runs August 15 – September 4 at Tristan Bates Theatre, London WC2.
Text by Lucia Davies
