Thank you, next: You can dump your exes’ stuff at this break-up exhibition

Break-ups can be a painful experience. But before you go and set fire to everything your ex got you, maybe consider giving them away to someone who might need them instead?

After all, as they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. 

If you're game, head down to Main Street Commissary cafe for a cathartic experience.

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Presented by the venue and Our Grandfather Story, The Ex-hibition runs till the end of April at the cafe's curatorial art space.

The heartbreak-inspired exhibition showcases all the emotions involved in a break-up through a collection of installations and activities. 

For example, the memory-dump exhibit is where people are encouraged to let go of their past lovers by throwing away their stuff in a bin. 

In return, you can take an item of your choice from another bin containing items donated by other visitors.

The exhibition doesn’t stop there. There’s also an entire wall of unsent love letters written by people. Visitors can take the chance to let their feelings out as you’re also encouraged to write a letter to your ex.

Alternatively, you can bring old letters and clip them on the letter board. 

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Having second thoughts or need a little inspiration on what to text your ex? There’s the Text From Exes installation where you can read text messages from people’s exes.

You can also share your own personal text messages from your ex by DM-ing them to Main Street Commissary’s Instagram account.

Lastly, on the tables in the cafe, there’s also a series of questions to help prompt profound conversations with your friends or even a date. 

Some of the questions include: "What is something you wish you could say to an ex?", "When was the last time you enjoyed your own company?" and "What is something that would allow you to forgive or let go of an ex?"

It’s not the first time we've seen a breakup-inspired exhibit in Singapore. The Museum of Broken Relationships, which was part of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival in 2009, showcased a collection of donated personal effects from failed relationships.

Not all love is lost

It’s not all doom and gloom though. For some couples, a break-up is exactly what’s needed to come back stronger together. 

In an interview with AsiaOne in 2020, we spoke to couple Lexter Chen, then 39 years old, and Cynthia Heng, then 38, about their relationship. 

They had been dating since they were 19 and 18 years old, respectively. But when they were in their 20s, adulthood was thrown into the mix.

They ended their relationship as they were on different paths then, with Lexter still completing his degree while Cynthia was already working as a tax auditor in one of the big four firms. 

But after dating someone else for two months, Lexter realised that Cynthia was the one for him. Fast forward to the present, and the couple are happily in love and married. 

For Felicia Teo, then 20, and Arthur Hua, then 21, their love story was a little more complicated. They were polytechnic sweethearts and got engaged six years later in 2018. 

Unfortunately, the engagement fell through after a week when Arthur told Felicia he liked someone else. 

Felicia recounted how she avoided Arthur after going through the traumatic betrayal.

Making the decision to get back together with Arthur wasn't easy for Felicia and required constant forgiveness to overlook the broken engagement.

Arthur also had to put aside his ego to meet her parents to convince them of his sincerity and to let him date their daughter again. 

But their trials weren't for nought, since the couple got married in 2020. 

ALSO READ: How you deal with breakups, based on your star sign

venkat.gunasellan@asiaone.com

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