Museum of Broken Relationships: Tbilisi display brings items, stories of break-ups to public

From accessories given as presents to items connected to shared experiences, exhibits and stories illustrating relationships that ran their course are now on view at the moving Museum of Broken Relationships in Tbilisi’s old town section.

At Betlemi 10, a space found in the city’s downtown, memories from broken hearts in Georgia and abroad are collected in an intimate space.

Visiting the Museum will show you that love and break-up are both beautiful and painful irrespective of country, religion, orientation or history.

This is a museum about you, about us, about how we love and lose one another,” a summary from organisers said.

A present from a parent who has been absent in their child’s life ever since, a tent holding memories of shared times between partners, and keys to an apartment that has been as empty of mutual feelings as it had been of furniture during the best of times are some of the items displayed in the space.

Romantic relationships, friendships and family ties are all represented by written stories along with relevant items, with around 80 total exhibits, including 30 from people in Georgia, taking up two storeys of the venue.

Over 100 local stories had been submitted for the exhibition before its opening in Tbilisi, with Head of Marketing Natalia Ananiashvili telling the Georgian Public Broadcaster organisers were thinking about holding a second display in Georgia due to “great interest” across the country. A follow-up show is expected to open later this summer in Batumi on Black Sea coast.

Visitors can also bring their written stories of broken relationships to organisers, with authors of select submissions to be contacted later for complementing their memories with items.

A varied range of items have been donated to the moving display to be viewed by museum-goers in Tbilisi and later abroad. Photo: Betlemi 10.

The memories collected in Georgia will join the entries submitted from around the world over the years following the exhibitions in the capital and the seaside city.

Initially established in Zagreb, Croatia in 2016 by a couple following their break-up, the Museum of Broken Relationships has toured around the world. Georgia is among over 50 countries where the items and stories of break-ups have been exhibited.

The Tbilisi display will be open through June 30 at 10, Betlemi Street. Entry on May 18 will be free between 9pm-1am to mark International Museum Day.