What becomes of the broken hearted? Er, they start a museum

Key to her heart: Lila La Scala with the piano that was a gift from a former lover
12 April 2012

Some save every keepsake from a broken relationship while others feel like burning everything in sight.

Now Londoners are being offering a voyeuristic peek into other people's relationship break-ups.

There are around 100 objects in The Museum of Broken Relationships including a prosthetic leg, a pair of handcuffs, a collection of Proust
novels - complete with sand between the pages - and a set of seven bras with the caption "no wonder we were hidden".

Every object is displayed anonymously and comes with a caption that includes the location, date and length of relationship.

The award-winning concept of displaying people's objects of hurt was originally created in Croatia by Olinka Vištica and Draen Grubiši. It has since toured to cities around the world including Berlin, San Francisco and Zagreb, where it has its permanent home.

But this is the first time that the collection has come to Britain where it is being exhibited in two venues - the Tristan Bates Theatre and 38 Earlham Street - in Covent Garden.

The exhibition, which opens on 15 August, aims to tell the story of other people's past relationships with a mixture of objects from Londoners and those from the permanent collection with items from around the world.

Lila La Scala, 29, donated a piano that she was given by a one-time lover with the caption "for sale".

The singer, from Westcliff, Essex, said: "It was given to me in 2005 by someone I had a rather short affair with, which was punctuated with large consumption of champagne and shopping. I wouldn't consider it a relationship, it lasted about two and a half months, and when it ended he gave me a piano.

"The piano was in my hallway and it was taking up a lot of space. It's quite a strange parting gift to give someone. I thought it would raise a smile with people at the exhibition."

One ticket, which costs £3.50, gives viewers a whole week's access to the two venues to enable people time to look around the exhibition at their leisure. There will also be linked literary, film and dance events.

Laura Kriefman, creative producer at the Tristan Bates Theatre, said: "As you walk around reading these stories some of them are full of anger and
hurt while others are full of joy and resilience."

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