When a relationship ends, the once treasured mementos of a lost romance - from teddy bears to love letters - are most likely destined for the bin, or even the fire. But some of those bittersweet gifts have now been given a new purpose, as part of an award-winning exhibition called the Museum of Broken Relationships.
Items donated by heartbroken owners include a prosthetic leg, a pair of handcuffs, a collection of Proust novels - complete with sand between the pages - and a set of seven bras. There are even the keys to an ex-boyfriend's apartment.
Most of the objects are displayed anonymously and each one comes with a caption that includes the location, date and length of relationship.
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. I wouldn't consider it a relationship, it lasted about two and a half months, and when it ended he gave me a piano. It's quite a strange parting gift to give someone. I thought it would raise a smile with people at the exhibition."
The concept was dreamt up eight years ago in Croatia when film producer Olinka Vistica and designer and artist Drazen Grubisic split up after four years. They refused to treat their broken relationship like "an illness" and instead set about celebrating their time together.
They asked their friends to donate their own discarded love tokens and soon built up a large collection.
The London stop of the exhibition's world tour, lasts a week and spans two Covent Garden venues: the Tristan Bates Theatre and 38 Earlham Street.
Tickets cost £3.50, and there are linked literary, film and dance events.
Laura Kriefman, of 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."


据英国《每日邮报》8月16日报道，当一段感情结束，那些曾经被看作是浪漫爱情的珍贵纪念品，从泰迪熊到情书，就都有可能被扔进箱子甚至火堆里。而如今，这些苦乐参半的礼物被赋予了新的意义--即成为这个备受赞誉的"分手博物馆"展品中的一部分。


失恋人士捐赠出的物品中有假腿、手铐、夹杂着沙子的普鲁斯特小说合集和7件套的内衣，甚至还有前男友公寓的钥匙。


大部分物品以匿名方式展出，并且附有标签注明感情发生的地点、日期和持续的时间。


29岁的莱拉•拉•斯卡拉捐赠了一架前男友赠与的钢琴，标签上写着"出售"字样。

这位来自艾塞克斯斯特克利夫的歌手说："2005年，我和一个人有过短暂的暧昧，这就是他送给我的。我不认为我们恋爱了，因为那只持续了两个半月，分开时他给了我这架钢琴，离别送钢琴确实挺奇怪的。我想它能给前来参观展览的人带来笑容。"


8年前，当电影制片人奥林卡•韦斯蒂卡和身为设计师兼艺术家的德拉赞•格鲁比希奇结束长达4年恋爱的时候，这对曾经的恋人就在克罗地亚提出了这个设想。他们不想把感情破裂当成 "伤病"一样对待，相反，他们开始着手庆祝曾经与彼此在一起的时光。

他们让自己的朋友捐出"废弃"的爱情信物，很快他们便收藏了大量物件。
该博物馆世界巡回展的伦敦站将持续一周，贯穿科芬园的两个场馆--特里斯坦•贝茨剧院和38号及额拉姆街。

每张门票售价3.5英镑，届时还将举行相关的文学、电影和舞会活动。

特里斯坦•贝茨剧院的工作人员劳拉•克瑞佛曼说："当你四处参观阅读那些故事时会发现，有些人充满愤怒和伤痛，有些人则满怀喜悦、活力依旧。"

• romance [rəu´mæns] n.中世纪骑士小说 (初中英语单词)
• collection [kə´lekʃən] n.收集；征收；募捐 (初中英语单词)
• singer [´siŋə] n.歌手，演唱者 (初中英语单词)
• concept [´kɔnsept] n.概念；观念；思想 (初中英语单词)
• literary [´litərəri] a.文学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
• relationship [ri´leiʃənʃip] n.关系；联系；亲属关系 (高中英语单词)
• exhibition [eksi´biʃ(ə)n] n.展览；显示；表演 (高中英语单词)
• location [ləu´keiʃən] n.定位；位置；地方 (高中英语单词)
• producer [prə´dju:sə] n.生产者；演出人 (高中英语单词)
• donate [dəu´neit] vt.捐赠 (高中英语单词)
• parting [´pɑ:tiŋ] a.&n.分离(的) (英语四级单词)
• designer [di´zainə] n.设计者 (英语六级单词)